Neurologic complications from Covid-19 are common and can range from decreased mental clarity to stroke. A recent perspective article outlines what we know about these complications so far. The authors explain how prior assumptions that the virus directly affected brain cells have been disproven. Instead, nervous system injury is likely a result of severe inflammation and neurovascular injury. Neu-rologic insults from SARS-CoV-2 infection could increase the incidence and severity of neurodegen-erative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkin-son’s disease, in future generations. Early in the pandemic, researchers observed Trusted Sourcethat people recovering from Covid-19 were not return-ing to their pre-illness state of health — this is now commonly known as “Long Covid.” Among the myriad persistent symptoms, many people experi-enceTrusted Source headaches, memory issues, and cognitive deterioration.
Researchers from Northwestern University in Chi-cago, IL, were the first to report that even non-hospitalized people with Covid-19 demonstrated significant cognitive dysfunction that persisted well beyond 6 weeks from the acute infection. Stay in-formed with live updates on the current Covid-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment. In the journal Science, Dr. Serena Spudich and Dr. Avindra Nath review our current understanding of the neurologic consequences of Covid-19. Building on clinical observations, autopsy, and laboratory findings, the authors propose theories of causality about how Covid-19 may result in long-term neurologic symptoms.
The authors acknowledge that the mechanisms by which Covid-19 can wreak havoc on the human nervous system are not well understood. Cere-brovascular complications, such as a stroke, can occur early in the infection — even before the respi-ratory effects of the disease. Central inflammatory conditions and peripheral nerve symptoms occur later, typically 2 weeks after the acute infection. These disparate timelines suggest that the cause of these neurologic symptoms may differ. Studying the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Trusted Sourceoffers clues as to underlying mechanisms for neurologic damage in people with Covid-19. CSF is a fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and IL-2 proteins, which are inflammatory cytokines produced by the body. Expression of genes controlled by interferon, an infection-fighting protein present during viral infections.
