SARS-CoV-2 was initially identified as a respiratory virus, but it can affect the whole body, including the nervous system. In a new Viewpoint published in La science, Avindra Nath, MD, clinical director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health, and Serena Spudich, MD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, highlight what the t is currently known regarding the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain, the importance of more research into the underlying causes of Long Covid and possible ways to treat its symptoms.
Neurological symptoms that have been reported with acute COVID-19 include loss of taste and smell, headache, stroke, delirium, and brain inflammation. There does not appear to be widespread infection of brain cells by the virus, but neurological effects may be caused by immune activation, neuroinflammation and damage to blood vessels in the brain.
Acute COVID-19 infection can sometimes lead to lasting effects, which have been collectively referred to as “Long Covid”, and can include a wide variety of symptoms in the brain and nervous system that range from loss of taste and smell, impaired concentration, fatigue, pain, sleep disturbances, autonomic disturbances and/or headaches to psychological effects such as depression or psychosis.
Drs. Nath and Spudich outline the current scientific understanding of the body’s potential responses to acute COVID-19 infection and how those responses might result in Long Covid symptoms. They also draw parallels between the symptoms experienced by people with Long Covid and those living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or post-Lyme disease, suggesting there may be common risk factors involved.
Finally, due to the significant variability in symptoms from person to person and the fact that many people with Long Covid were healthy prior to a relatively mild COVID-19 infection, the authors emphasize the urgent need for Significant research efforts to identify the full extent of Long Covid complications and their causes. This type of research, which would include the careful study of individuals with Long Covid categorized by their specific symptoms, is crucial for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools to identify and treat what is becoming an increasingly public health problem. most important. The NIH RECOVER COVID Initiative is an ambitious research program to achieve these goals.
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Materials provided by NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
