How did Covid damage our brains? Scientists worried that conditions like dementia could follow
2024-09-15 10:59:16
TiranaPost
Many of the first and most alarming effects of Covid involve the brain, such as loss of smell, slow thinking, headaches, delirium and strokes. More than four years after the start of the pandemic, researchers are seeing the profound effects that Covid can have on brain health, as millions of survivors suffer from ongoing problems such as brain fog, depression and cognitive slowing, which hamper the brain's ability to work and function. Scientists now worry that these symptoms could be early indicators of a future increase in dementia and other mental conditions, prolonging the social, economic and health burden of the pandemic.
In 2021, British researchers reported the first results from a study that compared brain scans taken before and after the start of the pandemic. They found signs of damage and accelerated aging in the brain, particularly in the region responsible for smell, even in patients who had experienced mostly mild cases of Covid a few months earlier.
A 2022 study in mice and humans showed sustained activity of cytokines after Covid, specifically CCL11 (eotaxin 1) in the central nervous system. CCL11 is known for its role in both allergic conditions and brain disorders.
Studies in mice found that, in addition to increased levels of cytokines/chemokines in the cerebrospinal fluid, the myelin in the nerve cells was damaged, which could be an explanation for the cognitive problems.
Another study, published in October 2023, has proposed an alternative theory: that the reduction of peripheral serotonin after Covid inhibits the vagus nerve, inhibiting the responses of the hippocampus, which is involved in learning, memory and emotions.
