A long covid that has been "cured"... "The lungs become stiff and the brain becomes small"

<Anchor>

Medical reporter Cho Dong-chan is here.

[Cho Dong-chan / Medical reporter (specialist): Yes.

First, let me show you a case that was published in the world's three major medical journals, The Lancet.

Although the PCR was negative, I continued coughing and had a CT scan of the lungs, and fibrosis, which hardened the lungs, progressed.

Most of them were even treated with ventilators in the intensive care unit.

Even if not, the elderly, people with underlying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and smokers had a high risk of hardening of the lungs even if they had a mild illness.

It is presumed that the pneumonia worsens and the lungs harden. When it is pneumonia, it can be recovered, but it is difficult to find a way after the lungs have hardened.

If coughing or shortness of breath persists even after the quarantine is lifted, it is better to seek medical attention as soon as possible and get a CT scan of the lungs for treatment.]

[Cho Dong-chan/medical reporter (specialist): The symptoms of brain shrinkage in the middle of the long covid were also confirmed.

The Royal University of England examined the brains of people 141 days, four and a half months after being confirmed by the coronavirus.

Yellow and red marks indicate areas with a smaller brain compared to non-infected individuals.

This is the area where the yellow has been reduced more.

The areas responsible for the sense of smell as well as concentration, memory, and emotions have been particularly reduced.

So after suffering from Corona, I couldn't smell well, my concentration and memory decreased, and I even felt depressed.

When I calculated how much they decreased, the sky blue ones were non-infected and the orange ones were infected, and both of them lost more brains as they got older.

Even if you don't get Corona, your brain shrinks by 0.2% a year.

However, the number of corona infected people decreased by an average of 3.5 times compared to non-infected people.

There were people who lost 10 times more, in other words, they lost 10 years of their brains all at once.

So far, we have calculated only mild infections, and severe patients had more brain shrinkage than mild cases.]

[Cho Dong-chan / Medical reporter (specialist): The research team estimated that it was not the virus itself that attacked the brain, but an inflammatory substance created by our body fighting the virus.

The more severe the symptoms, the more severe the brain changes are expected.

It is currently being researched, and I think that if you get a vaccine and get treatment quickly, you can reduce brain damage.

The research team said that the brain is showing signs of recovery, but it remains to be seen whether it will fully recover.

This result was carried out when the delta mutation was prevalent, and the effect of the Omicron mutation is being analyzed, but there are still many people who have poor memory and concentration, so a similar result is expected for Omicron.]

▶ 79% sequelae…

20% say 'long covid' for more than 3 months