HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE YOUR BRAIN’S STUCK IN A FOG after recovering from COVID? A whopping 46 percent of long-term COVID survivors report persistent brain fog, along with memory lapses and trouble focusing.
Turns out, there’s a reason behind it — a recent study suggests that a viral-induced brain injury during the infection could be the culprit, leading to long-lasting cognitive and mental health challenges that stick around for years.
This essay explores new findings: COVID-19 might leave a mark on the brain even after a year.
New study
In this study, researchers tracked 351 people who had severe COVID-19 and found evidence of a long-term brain injury a year later.
They used tests to measure brain function, checked for specific markers in the blood, and took brain scans.
The results showed that these patients had brain deficits equivalent to 20 years of aging.
Details
During the study, participants took cognitive tests, and the investigators compared their scores to people who hadn’t experienced severe COVID-19.
They took blood samples to find specific signs pointing to a brain injury.
When they looked at brain scans, they saw that the areas of the brain linked to attention were smaller.
People in the study weren’t as sharp or quick in their thinking, and a lot of them were grappling with mental health problems like feeling down, anxious, or stressed out.
It’s as if their brains aged faster than normal.
Importance
Ever had a hard time convincing your doctor that something’s wrong?
Turns out, many people dealing with long COVID know that struggle too well.
About 79 percent of them say they’ve faced negative experiences when trying to get help for their symptoms.
The problem? Long COVID symptoms, especially brain fog, can be a bit tricky to pin down.
Some patients feel like their doctors don’t believe them when they talk about physical issues they’re going through.
This research sheds light on the challenges people with long-term COVID-19 face in getting the support they need.
It’s a real issue; these patients aren’t alone in their frustrations.
Why?
Ever wonder how COVID-19 could mess with your brain?
The brain injuries linked to COVID are a bit of a puzzle, and researchers are trying to put the pieces together.
One idea is that brain injuries might happen when the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen, especially in folks who end up in the hospital and need ventilators.
It’s like the brain is gasping for air, and that might be causing some problems.
The brain shrinks
Previous scans have shown that the gray matter in the brains of COVID patients can shrink, and this is because of inflammation caused by the immune system going into overdrive.
It’s not the virus causing the damage but the body’s response.
In this new study, researchers found that using steroids in the hospital helps protect the brain from inflammation.
Meaning
So, what does all this mean for patients and their doctors? Well, some experts say that doctors need to be open to the idea that their patients might have a brain injury from COVID.
Treatments used for brain injuries have been proven to work for the brain fog linked to long COVID.
Things like speech therapy, cognitive therapy, and meeting with a specialist for mental health concerns could make a real difference.
It’s like treating a duck as a duck — if it looks like a brain injury, it might just be one.
This study has uncovered new information about how COVID-19 can harm the brains of people with severe cases of the virus.
