COVID-19 and Its Effects on Brain: Causes, Symptoms and Management

Table of Content

• How does COVID affect the brain? 

• What is COVID Brain Fog? 

• Symptoms of Brain Fog

• Risk Factors for COVID-19 Brain Fog

• How to Manage COVID Brain Symptoms?

• Take-Home Points

• FAQ on COVID 19 and Its Effects on Brain: Causes, Symptoms and Management

Introduction

Healthy brains are needed for leading a healthy life. Mental health has become a buzzword due to the same reason. The recent pandemic has also done enough damage to the mental health of a significant population. COVID-19 has also taken a toll on all of our lives and made us feel crippled for months. That's why COVID-19 lockdowns have become infamous for causing the mental health pandemic around the world with increasing cases of depression and anxiety. Other than this, the long-term effects of COVID like brain damage are hardly discussed widely. In this article, you would get all your answers regarding the effects of coronavirus on the brain. 

How does COVID affect the brain?

With COVID, you would experience a range of flu-like symptoms but they all go away after some weeks. But in rare cases, coronavirus causes long-term neurological effects, including brain fog and brain shrinkage. From various research studies, we have found that COVID-19 changes the brain structurally and functionally, especially in two major areas namely the hippocampus (regulates memories) and the amygdala (regulates emotions). Though the research on the process of how COVID virus affects the brain is still going on, we now know that COVID-19 affects brain functions and structure. Due to these effects, you may experience,

• Excessive fatigue that interferes with your daily activities

• Difficulty in thinking

• Inability in concentrating or brain fog

• Dizziness

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness

• Failures in recognising taste or smell

What is COVID Brain Fog?

As we discussed above, COVID causes various changes in the brain regarding its structure and function. Other than this, it also causes inflammation in your brain which makes it difficult for your brain to process neural connections. Due to poor neural networks in the brain, you can have difficulty in,

• Focus

• Concentration

• Learning

• Planning

• Recalling

• Multitasking

If you are experiencing these symptoms, you are having brain fog. Brain fog makes it difficult for you to go through daily life as thinking, analysing and concentrating are difficult. 

Symptoms of Brain Fog

Here are some of the most mentioned and prominent symptoms of brain fog experienced by people,

• Memory issues

• Lack of clarity

• Poor concentration

• Feeling like living in a dream

• Confusion

• Headaches

How Common is COVID-19 Brain Fog?

Almost 31% of the people who have recovered from COVID reported that they experience a different mental state after the COVID like mood changes, fatigue, headache and visual disturbances. Later many were diagnosed with brain structure changes and brain inflammations. The important point to note here is that mild cases of COVID didn’t do much harm to brain functions but severe cases of COVID have done significant damage to lots of patients. 

Does COVID  Brain Last for a Long Time?

The answer is we don’t know! The coronavirus-triggered brain damage is seen evidently through various research studies but if they last permanently or just exists temporarily is still not widely known. Some experts say that the COVID brain improves after six months but there are more trials of medicinal research needed to prove this belief. 

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Brain Fog

Other than COVID-19, some other factors can cause brain fog. They are, 

• Lack of quality sleep

• Periods of loneliness

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Dietary changes

• Sedentary lifestyle

Does COVID-19 Cause Brain Shrinkage?

COVID-19 can cause brain atrophy which reduces neural connections, brings down brain performance and reduces brain capacity. Though some researches prove that brain function improves after the COVID-19 recovery, some rare cases show that the brain shrinkages from the virus are permanent. 

How to Manage COVID Brain Symptoms?

Here are some of how you can manage COVID brain symptoms, 

• Set up digital or written reminders of the tasks you have to do in a day or week in case you are facing any difficulties in remembering and organising your work.

• Meditation is the key to the mood changes, depression and anxiety you experience when you are facing mental-related illnesses or mental health issues.

• Do regular exercises that can help you in dealing with daily stress.

• Sleep is the medicine for all your illness since sleep repairs almost everything. 

• Stay in a close relationship with your social circle and work with your community.

• Adopt new hobbies and try new things that may help you in putting your brain to work. 

• Take up new puzzles and difficult riddles to power up the neurons in your brain.

Take-Home Points

• Though COVID-19 effects on the brain are rare, millions of people are suffering long-term neurological disorders from it.

• The most common COVID-19 brain effects are brain fog and brain shrinkage.

• Other than these, researchers have also pointed out that COVID-19 furthers ageing and fastens inflammation in the brain.