China News Service, Beijing, January 7th (Liu Huan) The brain seems to be covered with cloth, unable to remember things, and lack of concentration... Recently, some patients have reported that they seem to have "brain fog" after being infected with the new crown virus. My brain seems to be attacked by a virus.
Does the new crown really hurt the brain?
What exactly is "brain fog"?
A "brain fuzzy state"
On the day of an exam in late December 2022, the 22-year-old Xiangzhu antigen tested positive. When she sat in the exam room to answer the second test paper, she had a fever of 39 degrees.
Xiangzhu found that, apart from symptoms such as fever and cough, her brain could no longer move. "I couldn't write while sitting in the examination room, and I couldn't adjust anything in my mind. I never had a high fever of 40 degrees before."
In an interview with Chinanews.com, she said that she had improved a lot, but she still felt tingling in her brain when she spoke.
"Now there is always a feeling of burning out and talking nonsense." Xiangzhu said.
The brain seems to be covered with a cloth, lack of concentration, and inability to remember things... These are the symptoms mentioned by some patients infected with the new coronavirus, known as "brain fog" (Brain Fog) - a series of neurological symptoms Concentration, mainly manifested by cognitive impairment, such as forgetfulness, slow thinking, etc., accompanied by problems such as fatigue, lack of motivation, and sleep.
In fact, the concept of "brain fog" has existed for at least ten years. Patients with persistent concussion and chronic fatigue syndrome have already used "brain fog" to describe their symptoms.
Tang Yi, chief physician and professor of the Department of Neurology at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, told Chinanews.com that "brain fog" can be caused by different causes, such as overwork, prolonged standing and sitting, long-term alcoholism, and lack of sleep.
As for whether cognitive impairment will occur after infection with the new coronavirus, he said: "Studies have shown that the new crown will affect the cognitive function of some patients."
According to Tang Yi, according to studies in European and American countries, three months after the diagnosis of the new coronavirus infection, the overall incidence of different degrees of cognitive impairment is 22%-35%.
The incidence of cognitive impairment is higher in critically ill patients.
Studies have shown that the incidence of cognitive impairment in critically ill patients is still as high as 59.24% 6 months after onset.
Data map: The hospital treats critically ill patients.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei
Whether it is a sequela of the new crown is still controversial
Tang Yi pointed out that the exact cause of "brain fog" is still unclear, but the new coronavirus infection does affect the brain.
This effect is mainly reflected in brain functional areas closely related to cognitive functions, such as the olfactory nerve, olfactory cortex, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus. The new crown has caused cortical atrophy in these brain functional areas, and the specific damage involves multiple mechanisms.
Studies have shown that the inflammatory and immune responses produced after the new coronavirus infection may break through the brain barrier and affect the brain.
"At the same time, our brain cells are very sensitive to hypoxia. The hypoxia that occurs after the infection of the new coronavirus can also damage the brain, causing a series of 'brain fog' symptoms of cognitive impairment." Tang Yi said.
According to media reports, scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden discovered that the new coronavirus accelerated the destruction of connections between neurons, and said that excessive damage to connections between neurons may cause "brain fog" in patients with "long new crowns". ".
According to a Xinhua News Agency report in November 2022, "Long Covid" (Long Covid) usually refers to the sequelae of the new crown.
The World Health Organization calls it "post-coronavirus symptoms."
According to Agence France-Presse, a new study published by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) pointed out that the immune response triggered by the new coronavirus infection can damage blood vessels in the brain, which may be the cause of long-term neurological complications in patients. .
Data map: A nurse (left) who came to Beijing from Shandong to assist in dispensing medicines.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei
As for whether "brain fog" is a sequela of the new coronavirus infection, Tang Yi said that this statement is still controversial.
He pointed out that sequelae refer to the long-term unrecoverable tissue defect or dysfunction after the recovery period of the disease, which is accompanied by lifelong.
"Existing studies have shown that the 'brain fog' that occurs after infection with the new coronavirus gradually improves or even disappears in some people over time. However, after some people are infected, these symptoms last for a long time and still have not completely disappeared. In addition, the current The study does not yet know whether the harmful effects of the new crown on the brain structure can be completely reversed, and further follow-up is still needed." Tang Yi said.
Can you clear the fog in your mind?
As the research on the long-term effects of the new coronavirus infection continues to deepen, how respiratory diseases affect the nervous system has become a problem that plagues the medical community at home and abroad.
Currently, there are no approved treatments for "brain fog" in the world.
Two neurology researchers at Yale University in the United States have previously published preliminary evidence that two drugs that have been developed together can reduce or even eliminate the symptoms of "brain fog".
Their small trial found that a drug combination of guanfacine and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) successfully cured eight of 12 patients with "brain fog."
The trial also needs to conduct more clinical trials and control trials to further evaluate the effect of the drug.
Data map: The staff is making preparations before vaccination. Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Bing
In China, Tang Yi's team has previously launched a clinical study on the relief and treatment of the new crown "brain fog".
The research is mainly for COVID-19 patients who have no history of cognitive impairment or dementia, are now infected with COVID-19 (3-12 weeks after nucleic acid or antigen positive), and are aged between 18-80 years old, and continue to recruit subjects.
He said that on the one hand, the study provides patients with a complete brain function assessment to determine whether the new crown has caused damage to the patient's brain structure and cognitive functions, especially advanced cognitive functions such as attention, memory, and logical reasoning.
On the other hand, based on the test results, the team has also developed a computerized cognitive training intervention that has been repeatedly verified and can effectively improve cognitive function.
Tang Yi believes that, except for critically ill patients, most people will rarely experience cognitive impairment after infection with the new coronavirus.
"Because the cognitive function after injury can still support us in general daily activities and ordinary affairs, but we may feel some discomfort when performing tasks or learning tasks that require concentration, memory, logical reasoning, etc. Same."
And if "brain fog" has a persistent impact on life, he said, it can be checked through cognitive assessment, blood test and other items, "to achieve early detection and early treatment, and dynamically monitor changes in cognitive function."
(At the request of the interviewee, some characters in the article are pseudonyms) (End)