Even though different countries are rolling out vaccines, COVID-19 is still a mystery to scientists and doctors around the world.
When COVID-19 infects a person, it’s not an easy recovery for many people even if they survive to tell the tale. Coronavirus often causes severe complications and damage and its longtime effects on people are still under study.
During a new study, conducted in-depth brain scans of the Covid-19 victims revealed some damage signs that they suffered.
Damage in brain tissues
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health had conducted these scans. Tissue samples from COVID-19 victims who died shortly after contracting the virus revealed signs of damage.
The damage was caused by the thinning and leaky brain blood vessels. However, what’s surprising is that although it was COVID-19 that caused such damage, there was no presence of the virus in the tissue itself.
This new fact strongly suggests that the reason behind such brain damage was no direct viral attack on the brain.
The brain damage was most likely the result of the body’s inflammatory response to the infection. Brains of these Covid victims were most probably sensitive to the microvascular blood vessel harm.
Senior author of this study and clinical director at NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Avindra Nath, M.D. said, “We found that the brains of patients who contract the infection from SARS-CoV-2 may be susceptible to microvascular blood vessel damage.”
Neurological implications of COVID-19
Data on COVID-19 shows that despite mainly affecting the respiratory tract, the virus also has severe neurological implications.
Patients suffering from coronavirus has also shown problems like headaches, delirium, cognitive dysfunction, dizziness, fatigue, and loss of the sense of smell. It can cause inflammation and damage to blood vessels in many cases.
As the new study reveals, brain damage is no exception in the list of problems that Covid causes.
Doctor Avindra Nath explains, “We were completely surprised. Originally, we expected to see the damage that is caused by a lack of oxygen. Instead, we saw multifocal areas of damage that is usually associated with strokes and neuroinflammatory diseases.”
Common symptoms of COVID infection
COVID-19 does not always infect with obvious symptoms and many people are mere carriers of the virus. Even so, awareness is never a waste.
Watch out for the common, flu-like symptoms of COVID-19 like fever, dry cough, tiredness. More severe symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, loss of speech or movement.
Some less common, but sure symptoms of COVID-19 include aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell, a rash on the skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes.
If you develop any of these common, then avoid meeting anyone and practice self-isolation. Try to treat mild symptoms at home and seek immediate medical attention if your symptoms get severe.
Practice social distancing as much as you possibly can and always wear masks when out in public.
Stay safe, until next time!
