Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mild Covid Can Cause Brain Damage, Study Finds
USA Today: Even Mild COVID-19 Can Cause Brain Damage, For How Long Isn't Known
A new study provides the most conclusive evidence yet that COVID-19 can damage the brain, even in people who weren't severely ill. The study, published Monday in Nature, used before-and-after brain images of 785 British people, ages 51 to 81, to look for any changes. About half the participants contracted COVID-19 between the scans – mostly when the alpha variant was circulating – which left many people at least temporarily without a sense of smell. Analysis of the "before" and "after" images from the UK Biobank showed that people infected with COVID-19 had a greater reduction in their brain volumes overall and performed worse on cognitive tests than those who had not been infected. (Weintraub, 3/7)
NBC News: Long Covid: Even Mild Covid Is Linked To Damage To The Brain Months After Infection
During at least the first few months following a coronavirus infection, even mild cases of Covid-19 are associated with subtle tissue damage and accelerated losses in brain regions tied to the sense of smell, as well as a small loss in the brain’s overall volume, a new British study finds. Having mild Covid is also associated with a cognitive function deficit. These are the striking findings of the new study led by University of Oxford investigators, one that leading Covid researchers consider particularly important because it is the first study of the disease’s potential impact on the brain that is based on brain scans taken both before and after participants contracted the coronavirus. (Ryan, 3/7)
Bloomberg: Covid Can Shrink the Brain as Much as a Decade of Aging, Study Finds
Even a mild case of Covid-19 can damage the brain and addle thinking, scientists found in a study that highlights the illness’s alarming impact on mental function. Researchers identified Covid-associated brain damage months after infection, including in the region linked to smell, and shrinkage in size equivalent to as much as a decade of normal aging. The changes were linked to cognitive decline in the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature. (Gale, 3/7)
In related covid research —
CIDRAP: COVID Patients With Heart Defects May Be At Higher Risk For Severe Disease
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs) were more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and die than those without CHDs in the first 11 months of the pandemic, suggests a study published today in Circulation. Congenital heart defects, the most common birth defect in the world, occurs when the heart or blood vessels near the heart don't develop normally in utero. (3/7)
Crain's Chicago Business: Long COVID Linked To Symptoms Of Anxiety: Northwestern Medicine Researchers
The puzzling neurologic symptoms some COVID-19 patients develop as part of long COVID can be connected with symptoms of anxiety and are related to damage to neurons and activation of glial cells, a sign of brain inflammation, a new study by Northwestern Medicine finds. The study of biomarkers that identify brain inflammation may help determine what diagnostic tests and treatments will work best on long-COVID patients, a Northwestern Medicine statement said. It may also go a long way to further the study of the mechanics of long COVID and, perhaps, even the biomechanics of anxiety in general, the statement said. (Asplund, 3/7)
Stat: As Long Covid Studies Continue, Researchers Cast A Wider Net
There are almost as many questions about long Covid as there are symptoms. From the pandemic’s early days, a significant share of people have been troubled by problems that persist for weeks or even years after their acute infection clears, or find they’ve developed new issues that range from bothersome to debilitating. These difficulties span the mind and the body, and so far they resist explanation. Current treatments focus on easing brain fog, bone-wearying fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain, loss of smell, anxiety and depression, and sleep problems, but two burning questions remain unanswered: Who gets long Covid and how can it be prevented? (Cooney, 3/7)
