We Just Got More Evidence That Long COVID Is a Brain Injury
The exact nature of long COVID is still coming to light, but we just got some of the best evidence yet that this debilitating condition stems from a brain injury.
Using high-resolution scanners, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have shown microscopic, structural abnormalities in the brainstems of those recovering from COVID-19.
Signs of brain inflammation were present up to 18 months after first contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
"We show that the brainstem is a site of vulnerability to long-term effects of COVID-19, with persistent changes evident in the months after hospitalization," the authors of the study conclude.
https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae215
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Look, I know this isn't exactly the most appropriate community to post a comment like this. I do however need to say as someone that has had debilitating brain fog for a couple of years thanks to covid: "...fuck."
That makes 2 of us. Been living with brain fog, memory loss, inability to pick out words when speaking, and now I set something down on a countertop, turn around, turn back and look and I literally can't see the item I set there. I see everything else, even the countertop where the item is sitting. Generally I either panic or I get pissed at myself for being so stupid. And then all of a sudden, the item magically returns to view as a stare at it.
Oh, and just for fun, breathing is still hard. And all medical testing shows my lungs are just fine and there should be problem. My pulmonologist tells me I'm one of the lucky few to be so chosen-- in jest. (I had to search "lung doctor" because I couldn't remember the word pulmonologist just now)
autonomic issue?
Not the one you responded to but it's a couple things, generally just lungs feeling inflamed, difficulty taking a full breath, way more sensitive to air quality / air temperature, and a bit of autonomic (I have to use a cpap to fall asleep now because sometimes I just stop breathing as I'm falling asleep)