Long Covid triggers brain damage in some survivors, university study finds

Subjects were shown to have suffered significant neurological impairment from the illness

Left: Dr Nisreen Alwan, is one of thousands of Britons to be have been enervated by long Covid. right: Kings College Hospital staff help another sufferer to walk again during his rehabilitative procesShow more

Covid-19 could lead to brain damage months after the original infection, leading scientists found after analysing patients suffering from cognitive dysfunction.

Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK discovered that people with “long Covid” – those with symptoms lasting three months or more – were exhibiting signs of a significant impact on the brain as a legacy of the illness.

Dr Nisreen Alwan, an associate professor in public health at the university, has been running a study of 2,500 long-Covid sufferers, mostly in the UK, who were asked to describe their symptoms.

The researchers have yet to publish their findings but early analysis has shown a neurological toll from Covid-19. "We are still analysing the results but one striking finding is the emergence of cognitive dysfunction symptoms later in the illness," Dr Alwan told The National.

“Some people describe it as brain fog. Others report poor memory or issues with problem-solving or concentrating.

“Some have them at the start but many develop them later in the illness, so there is obviously some sort of effect on the brain, whether it has to do with the immune system, persistence of the virus or as a result of blood supply to the brain or inflammation.

“The majority of people with long Covid in our study say they are experiencing these symptoms.”

Dr Alwan, a British-Iraqi academic whose parents came from Baghdad, embarked on the research after contracting the disease in March last year at the start of the global pandemic.

She recovered after a month but soon found that strenuous activity led to a relapse, characterised by a return of symptoms such as chest and muscle pains, as well as extreme fatigue.

In this video, she outlines the extent of her debilitation.

Despite scientists and doctors reporting evidence of the existence of long Covid in May last year, it wasn’t until four months later that the World Health Organisation published a report outlining that “some symptoms may linger or recur for weeks or months following initial recovery. Some patients develop medical complications that may have lasting health effects.”

The report was followed in October by the British government announcing a £10 million ($13.7m) research package for long Covid and for opening dozens of clinics to treat sufferers.

Some neurological effects of Covid-19 have been known since the outset of the disease but the Southampton team suggests the impact of coronavirus could be more severe and profound in the long term.

The long Covid ‘brain fog’

The findings build on other research, such as that carried out by the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, which said that as many as one in five patients were suffering from “brain fog”.

The CoroNerve study group, which pools data from the Association of British Neurologists, the British Association of Stroke Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, found “altered mental status was the second most common presentation … often occurring in younger patients”.

The debilitating illness affected a "staggering" number of people, Layla Moran, the Liberal-Democrat member of parliament and chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, told the body this month.

There are thought to be more than 300,000 people in the UK experiencing long Covid, with one in 10 of those who contract coronavirus likely to be affected by long-term health problems, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The campaign group Long Covid Kids has presented case studies of children suffering from the same range of up to 172 symptoms as those in adults.

The all-party group is calling for the compilation of a national database of sufferers and their symptoms to help with the development of a better care package and benefits, particularly for front-line staff left unable to work as a result.

Dan Poulter, a member of the all-party group, said that there was no doubt that long Covid has a life-changing impact on some people. “It is a subject we are learning more about by the day and we still need to better evaluate the data and the statistics,” he said.

Fellow committee member Ian Lavery said the impact of long Covid could be “absolutely devastating. In the most serious instances, it can be totally debilitating.”

Dr Alwan said that a national database could be used to better direct public policy and funds towards treatment.

“There is no doubt that a patient-led movement led to recognition of long Covid,” she said.

“However, it is disappointing that even now, the predominant focus is on the number of deaths. There is very little mention of the disability and illness that Covid-19 causes.”