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The suffering after covid-19: psychosis, brain damage and CFS linked to coronavirus – Health

Covid-19 is more than just a respiratory disease, according to more and more research into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain. Even those who went through the illness in silence at home sometimes still experience complaints long afterwards.

Most people experience covid-19 as a short-term illness lasting about two weeks. In severe cases this can take up to six weeks. Once the infection has been controlled, the vast majority of patients are old again. But that is not the whole story.

Most people experience covid-19 as a short-term illness lasting about two weeks. In severe cases this can take up to six weeks. Once the infection has been controlled, the vast majority of patients are old again. But that’s not the whole story, for example, even a mild infection with Covid-19 in a small minority, even after the virus clears the body, can still have consequences weeks to months later. In particular, complaints such as shortness of breath (due to scarring of the lungs), general weakness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and muscle pain persist in some cases. This is evident from the stories on Facebook groups such as ‘Corona patients with long-term complaints’. A survey conducted by Hasselt University and Maastricht University shows that nine out of ten members of the Facebook group still have problems with simple daily activities three months after the first symptoms. Most had no health problem before Covid-19. Even after the SARS outbreak, caused by another coronavirus, people still suffered from postviral fatigue months later, even after their lung function had recovered. The cause of this postviral fatigue syndrome is not yet clear. Is it a direct result of SARS-CoV-2 or is it caused by an overstimulated immune system or infected brain? Or are the suffered social isolation and fear at the root? The same discussion has raged for years about, for example, Lyme disease, caused by the Borrelia bacteria, in which persistent complaints are also reported without evidence that the virus is still dormant in the body. Thanks to this postviral fatigue syndrome, scientists hope to gain more insight into the biological factors of the more well-known, but equally misunderstood condition, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a condition linked to a disturbance of the immune system, hormones and metabolism, but also infectious diseases such as the Epstein-Barr virus (which causes gland fever) and Q fever. Since the cause of the fatigue in covid-19 is already known, it is easier to find out what exactly happens in the body. That a ‘cure’ does not always mean the end of the disease is also evident from other complaints such as confusion, an altered mood, anxiety and post-traumatic stress syndrome. For example, many ex-covid patients complain about the persistent cognitive problems they experience, such as focus and memory problems after hospital admission. In particular, symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome should not be wiped under the carpet, experts believe. Those who were in intensive care experienced frightened and lonely moments, were cared for by personnel who looked like Martians, had no prospect of effective treatment and perhaps saw other people die. It is therefore not inconceivable that after their discharge from the hospital, these patients experience repercussions in the form of stress-related sleep problems and anxiety. However, the virus can also make us literally mentally ill and trigger depression or psychosis, for example. The University Psychiatric Center (UPC) Duffel has recently received particularly alarming reports about the increasing number of psychiatric complaints, in particular of psychoses. The severity of the clinical picture of the admitted patients is also much greater than in normal circumstances. That is why UPC Duffel and the psychiatric research group CAPRI of the University of Antwerp will be carefully charting the number of admissions within the Antwerp psychiatric care network in the coming year. For example, all patients will be tested for the presence of antibodies to the coronavirus. Major complications such as strokes and psychoses may be explained by a lack of oxygen in the brain, blood clotting or an exaggerated immune system response that also involves the brain – and attacks nerve cells and inflammation develops. This is especially common in patients who have been hospitalized. Although the severity of the neurological damage does not necessarily have to correspond to the severity of the lung disease experienced. Also people who showed a mild form of covid-19 and who could for example sick at home do not seem to be out of the danger zone. In a journal, Brain, neurologists warn of brain damage in mild symptoms of lung disease. They see a marked increase in the number of cases of the rare autoimmune disease acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (Breath), a childhood disease in which the brain and spinal cord show inflammation and certain body functions fail. “Covid-19 affects the brain in a way we’ve never seen before,” neurologist Michael Zandi of University College London, one of the study’s authors, told The Guardian. “Even if you seem to have a mild cold, you can still develop serious neurological problems. Some patients are left with a chronic condition, others are recovering. ”Zandi calls on neurologists to be alert to complications such as memory problems, fatigue and weakness after a covid infection. “The message should be that not all of this can be due to the recovery process and the psychological aspects of a cure,” said Zandi. “The brain really seems to have something to do with this.” It can take years for the brain damage that SARS-CoV-2 causes in a tiny proportion of the population to manifest. That is why it is too early to speak of a possible new pandemic. More research is needed for this. Yet it is not inconceivable that there is a wave of brain diseases and serious psychiatric syndromes, as has been shown in the past. For example, after the historic influenza pandemic from 1918 to a million people years later, the mysterious disease “encephalitis lethargica” (sleeping sickness) developed. Although to this day it is not certain that this was due to the flu virus, since the condition started in 1915 and lasted into the 1930s. But since SARS-CoV-2 is not a virus like any other, this is something that we should take into account in the future and raise the alarm in good time through scientific research.

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