Over two years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, it is now common knowledge that SARS-CoV-2 is far unpredictable and more than just a respiratory virus. Although it usually attacks the lungs, it also infects the heart, brain, and other organs in the body, leaving many people suffering from Long COVID symptoms.
Doctors have focused on treating the inflammatory reactions in the lungs and the blood clots that the virus has caused. But Long COVID symptoms that are not affecting the lungs are also on the rise as it makes more and more people develop brain fog, anxiety, or depression and unable to think straight or remember things.
How Does SARS-CoV-2 Attack the Body? Long COVID's Effect on the Brain, Heart, Other Vital Organs Puzzling Experts
SARS-CoV-2 Affects the Brain
Neurodegenerative disorders and brain injury usually alter a person's behavior as it also changes the anatomy of the brain. Now, scientists noticed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 could also affect one's behavior.
The Daily Mirror reported that some people admitted to the hospital have displayed puzzling symptoms that are usually not associated with COVID-19. These patients were having severe depression, hallucinations, and paranoia. Since last year, more and more people have had to cope with the effects of Long COVID as they experience brain fog, anxiety, and other behavioral changes.
So, what is going on in the brain? Researchers said that whatever is happening inside the brain is indecipherable but inflammation plays a major part in it. Scientists explained that a storm of inflammatory cytokines might trigger an overwhelming immune response during COVID-19 that is powerful enough to permanently damage or destroy nerve cells that result in an altered personality.
Neuroscientist and psychiatrist Maura Boldrini from Manhattan's Columbia University Irving Medical Centre said that some nerve cells could have stopped functioning and died during the viral infection. It could cause the brain to shrink and the person's behavior to become more erratic.
As more neurons die and fewer are left, the memory functions begin to suffer, which causes people to become more forgetful or experience brain fog. Many viruses are also known to cause this effect, including HIV.
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How Does SARS-CoV-2 Virus Attack the Body?
Cardiac anesthesiologist David Reich, the president of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said that no one ever expected that SARS-CoV-2 would not fit the pattern of pneumonia and respiratory disease.
According to WebMD, those with mild or no symptoms may only have acquired the virus in the upper airway, so they were able to fend it off before it gets worse. However, when the body fails to destroy the virus at its entry point, it goes deeper and may travel to the lungs, digestive tract, and other organs.
Once it is deeply embedded inside the body, it attacks and causes severe diseases. The Washington Post reported, the virus also attacks the heart by weakening the muscles and disrupting its critical rhythm, causing blood clots that can kill with sudden efficiency. More so, it damages the kidneys of any patients that hospitals had run out of dialysis equipment. The virus also attacks the nervous system and destroys nerve cells responsible for taste and smell senses.
The infection usually affects the elderly, people with underlying conditions, poor immune systems, and overweight. It mostly spares the children until it does not anymore. Doctors have warned of a rare inflammation reaction in children linked to the virus.
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