More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, scientists have become increasingly aware of a group of patients—so-called “long haulers”—who remain plagued by a combination of symptoms long after the infection passes.
Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital describe their findings related to their clinical work in this area.
The research is published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience and was conducted by Zeina Chemali et al.
Commonly, patients with long COVID present with ‘brain fog’, a vague description including lack of sleep, anxiety, depression, and a history of headache or migraine combined with trouble with attention.
In their study conducted over 15 months from February 2020-May 2021, the team followed 87 confirmed and 13 presumed cases of people with lasting symptoms beyond six months after COVID-19 infection.
They aimed to understand how and why COVID-19 affects people differently.
In the patients we treated with long COVID who presented with ‘brain fog’, the team found that the root cause of this commonly used term is often multifactorial.
To date, approximately 200 patients have been referred from the MGH COVID-19 long haulers clinic to the RECOVER Study and other trials conducted throughout the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.
The team says that similar symptoms are found in patients with other post-viral diseases, post-traumatic brain injury, concussive syndrome, or the vaguely understood chronic fatigue syndrome.
From a neurocircuitry point of view, the researchers see that frontal networks are the most vulnerable in the post-COVID-19 phase.
The team suggests that addressing ways to restore frontal neurocircuitry—such as good quality sleep, alleviating pain and headaches, treating anxiety and depression, and targeting attention and executive functions—as well as offering support and promoting self-care are important for a good and sustainable recovery.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about why people with diabetes more likely to have COVID-19, and why people with blood type O have lower COVID-19 risk.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies about a big cause of severe COVID-19 and death, and results showing UV-LED lights can kill COVID virus and HIV effectively.
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