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\u00a0Anna Malgina\/Stocksy<\/p>\n <\/span> \nScientists are just starting to uncover all of the ways in which COVID affects the brain and central nervous system, but growing evidence has shown that the infection can trigger a variety of neurological issues.\n<\/p>\n \nNew research published in Nature Medicine<\/em> found that brain and neurological disorders\u2014including stroke, migraine, and depression and anxiety\u2014occurred 7% more often in people who had COVID-19, compared to those who were never infected.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCOVID can lead to long-term neurologic consequences in some people,\u201d study co-author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in Saint Louis and the chief of research at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System, told Health<\/em>. \u201cIt is not only brain fog\u2014the neurologic complications include strokes, migraines, epilepsy and seizures, inflammation of the brain, and several other disorders.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nOverall, researchers said COVID has contributed to more than 40 million new cases of neurological disorders worldwide.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe\u2019re seeing brain problems in previously healthy individuals and those who have had mild infections,\u201d Dr. Al-Aly said in a press release. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you are young or old, female or male, or what your race is. It doesn\u2019t matter if you smoked or not, or if you had other unhealthy habits or conditions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n WHO Says 'End Is in Sight' for COVID Pandemic\u2014Here's What Still Needs to Be Done<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n \nAs part of the new study, researchers evaluated the health records of 154,068 veterans who tested positive for COVID between March 1, 2020 to January 15, 2021, and identified those who developed neurologic disorders within 12 months of being infected.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nResearchers compared that data to the medical records of 5.6 million people who didn\u2019t have COVID during that same timeframe and another 5.8 million people whose health data was collected before the pandemic.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nCompared with the control groups, those who were infected with COVID had a 77% higher risk of memory problems within a year after being infected. They were also 50% more likely to have an ischemic stroke, 80% more likely to have seizures, 43% more likely to have mental health issues, 35% more likely to have headaches and 42% more likely to develop movement disorders like tremors.\n<\/p>\n \nPrior research on COVID\u2019s impact on brain health has largely focused on hospitalized patients. This study found that the risk of brain injury increased with the level of care the patient received and is one of the first reports to show that even people who had COVID but were not hospitalized faced a greater risk of developing neurological complications down the road.\n<\/p>\n \nIn extrapolating that data, researchers postulated that roughly 6.6 million people in the U.S. have likely suffered brain impairments due to the virus.\n<\/p>\n \nThis risk of neurologic disease could have massive impacts on quality of\u00a0life and lifespan, as well as our healthcare system and economy. The researchers said they hope their findings will inform policies that\u2019ll address the ongoing neurological problems people with COVID may experience in the months and years ahead.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nWhile Dr. Al-Aly said he was expecting to see that COVID was associated with higher rates of cognitive impairment and stroke\u2014as that has been well demonstrated in previous literature\u2014he was surprised by the degree of the problems.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat was most remarkable though is when you put everything together and you see the extent of the problems that could be caused by COVID\u2014that was the eye opener. It is not only just brain fog or strokes, it is much more extensive than that,\u201d said Dr. Al-Aly.\n<\/p>\n New Covid Boosters Were Released Before Human Testing\u2014But Experts Say They're Still Safe<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n \nThough many research groups are actively working to identify the mechanisms behind the neurological issues, scientists don\u2019t yet have a solid understanding of why and how COVID impacts brain health. There are, however, a few common theories that may explain how the virus interacts with our brain.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nIt\u2019s well known that COVID can trigger widespread inflammation throughout the body, and according to Dr. Hirsch, all of that inflammation may damage the nervous system. Another theory is that SARS-CoV-2 can injure the blood vessels that supply the brain with oxygen and nutrients, and when these get injured, it can lead to brain problems, said Dr. Al-Aly. \n<\/p>\n \nIt\u2019s also possible that the virus directly infects the neurological system and it can take some time for the brain and body to fully recover. \u201cAdditional research is needed to understand the mechanistic link between initial COVID infection and subsequent neurologic disease,\u201d said Dr. Hirsch. \n<\/p>\n \nResearchers are also trying to identify who is most at risk for long COVID and, specifically, neurological complications.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nBuilding evidence suggests that \u201cpeople with co-morbidities like cardiovascular comorbidities (diabetes, obesity, etc) are at risk, but those comorbidities also place patients at risk for many neurologic diseases even without COVID,\u201d said Dr. Hirsch.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nAgain, future studies will help inform our understanding of who\u2019s most likely to develop neurological impairments after being diagnosed with COVID.\n<\/p>\n \nRegarding this new research, though the findings offer some evidence of a possible association between COVID and neurological disorders, it\u2019s still too soon to draw any solid conclusions.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe study helps us say there is a possible association between COVID and subsequent development of neurologic disorders,\u201d Karen Hirsch, MD, a neurologist with Stanford Health Care, told Health<\/em>. But \u201cmany details are still lacking,\u201d she added, including more specificity about the diseases with a connection to COVID.\n<\/p>\n \nWhile the study looked at a large range of neurological conditions\u2014from cognitive and memory disorders to nerve sensory disorders\u2014it\u2019s unclear if the symptoms were due to neurological disease or caused by some other health condition.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Paxlovid Was Most Effective in Older Adults During Omicron Surge, Study Shows<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span> <\/p>\n \nThe billion dollar question at this point is how to prevent both neurological and non-neurological symptoms after COVID, said Dr. Hirsch.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nOf course, the best way to prevent post-covid symptoms is to avoid catching the virus in the first place\u2014that means practicing CDC-recommended preventive measures in high-risk situations and staying up-to-date on vaccinations.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nVaccines specifically, while they can help prevent an acute case of COVID, may also provide some protection against long-term brain problems associated with COVID. A previous study led by Dr. Al-Aly found that vaccination can reduce the risk of Long COVID by about 20%, though vaccines shouldn\u2019t be the only line of defense. \n<\/p>\n \nOnce infected with COVID, there\u2019s currently no concrete data supporting any particular approach, with the exception of the standard treatments and therapies, such as Paxlovid, that used to treat the infection itself.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \nPrevention or management of underlying health conditions is another effective mode of protection. \u201cStay healthy and active and work closely with your medical team to manage chronic conditions, and if long-term symptoms develop post-COVID, see a physician,\u201d said Dr. Hirsch.\n<\/p>\n \nThough there\u2019s still much more work to do in regards to post-COVID symptoms, future studies will hopefully give us the tools and knowledge necessary to help prevent millions of Americans from experiencing debilitating brain problems after COVID.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe really need to understand mechanisms,\u201d said Dr. Al-Aly. \u201cWe need to know how COVID affects brain health, and we need to figure out ways to prevent and treat these complications.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo: \u00a0Anna Malgina\/Stocksy Fast Facts Having COVID-19 has been linked to an increased risk of neurological issues. Researchers say COVID has contributed to more than 40 million new cases of neurological disorders worldwide. Though scientists don't yet know how or why COVID impacts brain health, preventing the illness is still key to maintaining long-term health. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[593,410],"tags":[594,116],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nFast Facts<\/h3>\n
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COVID Infection Heightens Risk of Neurological Disorders <\/span> <\/h2>\n
How COVID Impacts Brain Health <\/span> <\/h2>\n
COVID Prevention Methods Still Matter <\/span> <\/h2>\n