UK Study Reveals Alarming Link Between COVID-19, Long-Term Brain Health Issues

LONDON, U.K - Almost five years after COVID-19 emerged as a pandemic threat worldwide, researches in the UK have shed new light into one of its most puzzling enigmas: long COVID. A recent study published by researchers at Trinity College Dublin and investigators from FutureNeuro found that nearly 1.8% of the population in the UK is affected by the condition.

The term "long COVID" was first used in spring 2020 to describe persistent symptoms following a reported case of the virus, often referred to as 'post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome'. The new study aims to unravel one such symptom - long-term brain health issues caused by long COVID.

To investigate this, researchers performed ultra-high field quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) on thirty patients with reported COVID-19 before their symptoms worsened and compared them with a matched control group of 51 without reported prior COVID-19 experiences. Their findings suggest areas of the brain where inflammation following acute Covid infection may contribute to lasting feelings.

While researchers highlight the benefits of various treatments, the research has sparked hopes for identifying effective treatments in the coming years.