How does COVID-19 affect the brain? Scientists surprised by the discoveries

Almost from the beginning of the pandemic, scientists suspected that the coronavirus was a threat to the nervous system. There is now increasing evidence that COVID-19 can cause brain damage. What is happening to him has been shown in a recent study in the journal Nature Communications. The discoveries surprised but also disturbed the scientists.

1. Cognitive and neurological symptoms are common in people with long covid
2. Growing evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 causes damage to the central nervous system, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood
3. A study published in Nature Communications (conducted on animals) showed that coronavirus infection causes, among others, inflammation of the nerves, microhaemorrhages, death of more cells
4. These observations were consistent with previous autopsy results from people who died from COVID-19
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

COVID-19 is a Threat to the Brain, Spinal Cord and Nerves

Long covid is becoming a growing problem. A mild disease does not protect against it. It is also difficult to predict who will be affected. It is known that long covid already affects millions of people. It is estimated that it could affect three out of 10 people who have had COVID-19. Among this group, more than three-quarters of people report cognitive or neurological impairment. Everyone has probably heard of “brain fog” – this is the term used to describe cognitive symptoms after COVID-19 (it also accompanies other diseases): confusion, forgetfulness, inability to focus, communication problems.

Because the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus adversely affects the brain was already suspected in spring 2020. Back then, however, there were more question marks than answers. Today we know more about the impact of COVID-19 on the nervous system. To name the problems that arise then some researchers have coined the term “neuro-COVID”.

The rest of the article is available under the video.

As Medical News Today notes, despite some recognition of the frequency of these symptoms, treating the affected patients has proved difficult. It was not clear what their cause was, what exactly caused them. A study recently published in the journal Nature Communications shed more light on this issue. They were conducted on monkeys, and what was observed confirmed earlier results of the autopsy of people who died from COVID-19.

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How does COVID-19 destroy the brain? The discoveries surprise and disturb

First, a word of clarification. When examining the brains of people who died from COVID-19, it was not possible to distinguish the changes caused by the coronavirus from those caused by other factors. Therefore, scientists decided to conduct a study involving animals. As explained in Medical News Today, lead author Dr. Tracey Fischer of the National Center for Primates Research at Tulane University, this allowed us to investigate damage solely from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Eight monkeys (four rhesus macaques and four African green monkeys) that were infected with SARS-CoV-2 participated in the study. In addition, two animals of each species were selected as the control group. Scientists carried out autopsies of the brains of sick animals (tissue samples were taken from seven regions of the brain). It turned out that in monkeys infected with SARS-CoV-2 nerve inflammation was greater than in “control” animals. Scientists also noticed a much greater range of cell death, microhaemorrhages, and signs of brain hypoxia in them.

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«It was really surprising that, first of all, we saw it in animals that did not have a serious respiratory disease. [Second, note ed.] we also observed an increase in the number of microchemorrhages in the brain, as well as the death of neuronal cells »- commented Dr. Tracey Fischer. In her opinion, this latest finding is most disturbing, as cell death can result in a “substantial deficit” in a patient.

More evidence that COVID-19 can cause brain damage

Dr. James Jackson, dealing with, inter alia, neuropsychological rehabilitation, who was not involved in the study, admitted that It provided further evidence that COVID-19 can cause brain damage.

“If people start to think of these changes as brain injuries rather than just brain fog, they will be more likely to do what we do with brain injury patients. Namely, we refer them to cognitive rehabilitation experts who can help them. (…) The condition of many people with mild brain injuries improves significantly. (…) But people do not necessarily think about cognitive rehabilitation in the case of brain fog »- pointed out Dr. Jackson.

He also pointed out that there are millions of people who have had COVID-19, which is beyond the means of providing cognitive rehabilitation to all affected people. “So we need to think about innovative ways to improve the cognitive function of these patients, because we will clearly overwhelm the system very quickly, even if a small percentage of eligible patients decide to go for treatment. So this is the problem »- admitted the specialist.

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