{"id":4165,"date":"2022-04-11T16:01:32","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T16:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=4165"},"modified":"2022-04-11T16:01:32","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T16:01:32","slug":"warning-to-anyone-whos-had-covid-over-irreversible-damage-to-the-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=4165","title":{"rendered":"Warning to anyone who\u2019s had Covid over \u2018irreversible\u2019 damage to the brain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors: Vanessa Chalmers<\/strong>, Digital Health Reporter  Apr 11 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID survivors have been warned that the brain could be irreversibly harmed by the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major organ has been shown in dozens of studies to be damaged in even the mildest forms of Covid illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Brain fog’, difficulty concentrating and memory problems have all been reported, with some encouraging studies suggesting most people see improvements in six to nine months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new study, by researchers at the University of Oxford, looked at people in the UK over the age of 50 who had a mild case of Covid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All 785 participants were in the UK Biobank, a large database for medical research, and had two brain scans 38 months aparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 401 participants had tested positive for Covid in between the two scans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study found a number of effects on the brain, on average 4.5 months following infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covid survivors had a greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue damage in regions of the brain associated with smell<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had a reduction in whole brain size and, after performing a number of tests, showed a drop in cognitive function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effects ranged from 0.2 to 2 per cent additional change compared with the participants who had not been infected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Gwena\u00eblle Douaud, lead author on the study, said: \u201cDespite the infection being mild for 96 per cent of our participants, we saw a greater loss of grey matter volume, and greater tissue damage in the infected participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey also showed greater decline in their mental abilities to perform complex tasks, and this mental worsening was partly related to these brain abnormalities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these negative effects were more marked at older ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA key question for future brain imaging studies is to see if this brain tissue damage resolves over the longer term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not clear at this stage if the effects on the brain are reversible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Stephen Smith, senior author on the study, said: \u201cThe fact that we have the pre-infection scan helps us distinguish brain changes related to the infection from differences that may have pre-existed in their brains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evidence is stacking up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study, published in the journal Nature in March, echoes the findings of a number of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers at Tulane University reported<\/a> findings last week based on studying primates, which are used in studies for the likeness to humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They found severe brain swelling and injury linked to reduced blood flow or oxygen to the brain.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also found evidence of small bleeds, neuron damage and death – even in primates that didn’t have a severe illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead investigator Dr Tracy Fischer said: “Because the subjects didn\u2019t experience significant respiratory symptoms, no one expected them to have the severity of disease that we found in the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the findings were distinct and profound, and undeniably a result of the infection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, researchers – including from the universities of Imperial College London and Cambridge – found that Covid can cause a \u201csubstantial drop\u201d in intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings came from a series of tests on memory, reasoning, planning and problem solving on more than 81,300 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who had been on a ventilator during their Covid sickness were most likely to see a decline in scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a classic intelligence test, they would have lost the equivalent of seven points in IQ, the team claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study said: “These results accord with reports of long-Covid, where ‘brain fog’, trouble concentrating and difficulty finding the correct words are common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe deficits were of substantial effect size for people who had been hospitalised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another study <\/a>reassured that \u201cbrain fog\u201d shouldn\u2019t persist for more than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covid patients scored significantly worse in episodic memory and in their ability to sustain attention on a task over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Professor Masud Husain, of Oxford University, said it was \u201cencouraging\u201d that most people\u2019s attention and memory return \u201clargely to normal in six to nine months\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cWe still do not understand the mechanisms that cause these cognitive deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explain this…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A team in the US suggested brain fog symptoms were the result of the organ being starved of oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After autopsying Covid victims<\/a>, scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that large cells called megakaryocytes were taking up space and leaving less room for blood to pass through the brain freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Professor James Goodwin, the Director of Science and Research Impact at the Brain Health Network, it is thought that Covid gets into the brain<\/a> through tightly sealed blood vessels which surround the organ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is another explanation, he wrote in The Telegrap<\/a>h, and our own immune systems are to blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes the immune system goes into overdrive in response to a virus, releasing too many inflammatory molecules called cytokines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phenomenon, known as a cytokine storm, can injure healthy organs, including the brain, as well as the lungs and heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has led to the death of many Covid victims, and those who survive may have long-term damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cytokine storm is typically more common in people who are unhealthy, have a long-term illness, are older or who have a high viral load, Prof Goodwin said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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