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STUDY: COVID-19 and Brain Health
In this article, we will discuss a recent study conducted by a group of researchers from Georgia State University, who suggest that the coronavirus causing COVID-19 may "hide" in the brains of infected individuals and cause relapses in patients who appeared to be recovering.
STUDY IN MICE: The researchers found that mice infected with the virus through their nasal passages developed severe illness due to a brain infection, even after the virus had left their lungs. The study found that the virus was localized in the mice's brains at a level 1,000 times higher than in any other area of the body. While the levels of the virus in the lungs began to decrease after three days of infection, the virus remained at high levels in the brain on the fifth and sixth days, when the disease became more severe.
Mukesh Kumar, the lead researcher and co-author of the study published by the journal Viruses, explained that these findings might explain why human patients who seem to have recovered from the disease sometimes relapse quickly and die.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: In a press release, Kumar stated, "The brain is one of the regions where the virus likes to hide," and perhaps this is why we are seeing severe illness and all the multiple symptoms it causes, such as heart diseases, loss of smell, and loss of taste — since all of these are related to the brain and not the lungs.
"Our thought that this is more of a respiratory disease is not necessarily true," said Kumar. "Once it infects the brain, it can affect anything because the brain controls the lungs, the heart, everything. The brain is a very sensitive organ. It is the central processor of everything."
In addition to COVID-19, Kumar suggests that the coronavirus reaching the brain could leave patients susceptible to other severe health problems in the future, including neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, along with general cognitive decline and autoimmune diseases.
Neurological symptoms are known to be relatively common in people with COVID-19. However, while several studies have suggested that mouse brains are susceptible to infection by the virus, the research has not yet produced conclusive evidence supporting the idea that the virus infects and concentrates in human brains. Neurological symptoms may be due to an immune response rather than direct brain infection.
On the other hand, a post written by Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, emphasized a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which found brain damage in tissue samples from 19 people who had died from COVID-19, but with no evidence that the virus had infected the brain tissue itself.
The doctor wrote, "The findings are especially intriguing because there has been some suggestion, based on mouse studies, that SARS-CoV-2 could cross the blood-brain barrier and invade the brain."
"Clearly, more research is needed," added Collins. Currently, all the information and research that can be conducted is crucial to learning more about the many ways COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the body, and understanding the neurological symptoms will be essential in helping people.
