While more research is needed, ultra high-resolution scans of hospital patients reveal a link between brainstem damage and the symptoms of long Covid
Damage to the brainstem – the brain’s “control centre” – is “likely” to be responsible for the physical and psychiatric symptoms of
Dr Catarina Rua, who helped lead the research at the University of Cambridge, said the 7T scanners allowed them to inspect living brains in such a detailed way for the first time as they were able to detect how immune cells were behaving. Abnormalities associated with a neuroinflammatory response were found in multiple regions of the brainstem – associated with breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety – weeks after the patients were admitted to hospital with Covid.
While previous studies have shown changes to the brainstem in the early stages of the illness, evidence of long-term brainstem change is inconclusive. People with Covid usually feel better within a few days or weeks, although for some people symptoms can last longer. The condition, known as long Covid, can cause extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, brain fog, dizziness, heart palpitations and muscle aches.
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