A new study showed that damage to the brainstem which is the brain’s ‘control centre’ is behind the long-lasting physical and psychiatric effects of severe COVID-19 infection. The study was conducted by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and published in the journal Brain. For the study, the researchers used ultra-high-resolution scanners that can see the living brain in fine detail to observe the damaging effects of COVID-19 in the brains of 30 people who had been admitted to the hospital with severe infection early in the pandemic.
Severe COVID-19 infection can lead to long-lasting physical and psychiatric effects which is also known as “long COVID.” Physically, people might experience persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, and muscle weakness, which can last for months. Damage to the lungs, heart, and kidneys may also result from severe cases, leading to complications like pulmonary fibrosis or heart failure.
On the other hand, neurological symptoms such as headaches and difficulty concentrating (brain fog) are common. On the psychological level, many patients might report anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which are related to the trauma of hospitalisation, isolation and the impact of the illness on daily life. The study revealed how SARS-CoV-2 affects brainstem regions associated with breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety.
Professor James Rowe, from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, who co-le.