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Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

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Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#131

Post by LorenPechtel »

algorias wrote: post #76
LastCovidWave wrote: post #32

Perhaps then we should stop ignoring the potential effects of the ongoing airborne pandemic. But no, keep f*king around with COVID, and we keep finding out.

There is no ongoing pandemic. There is now an en demic virus that's part of the regular rotation of pathogens that cause colds and flu, and covid doesn't seem particularly more dangerous than the rest (NB: influenza can be very nasty too! I'm not minimizing the harm of covid). The pandemic was a unique situation because the entire world population was immuno-naive to covid. This is no longer the case; we all get expo…

Covid causes a lot more deaths and a lot more damage than the flu. The flu is simply unpleasant for the vast majority of those who are otherwise reasonably healthy. Covid is still doing lasting damage to such people.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#132

Post by LorenPechtel »

ridiskdkfjsl wrote: post #96
algorias wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no ongoing pandemic. There is now an en demic virus that's part of the regular rotation of pathogens that cause colds and flu, and covid doesn't seem particularly more dangerous than the rest (NB: influenza can be very nasty too! I'm not minimizing the harm of covid). The pandemic was a unique situation because the entire world population was immuno-naive to covid. This is no longer the case; we all get expo…

the distinction between pandemic and endemic is political and typically related to “we don’t care to contain it”. It’s not related to immunity levels. The interesting thing is that it used to be citizens of poorer countries who would be fodder, now it’s also the richer ones which I think says something about the state of those countries and progress in general

I wouldn't say so much that we don't care to contain it, but that pandemic means it's sweeping over a population, endemic means it's simply always present in the population without major swings in prevalence. Impossible to contain because it's already everywhere.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#133

Post by LorenPechtel »

bugglebeetle wrote: post #4

Leaky blood brain barrier does not bode well for the future, especially with mass and repeated infections. This is associated with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other neurodegenerstive disorders: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrneurol.2017.188

As far as I'm concerned the data has for a long time said that Covid typically causes lasting damage, it's just that for most people it's at a subclinical level.

If this were not the case why do we see rising odds for Long Covid with repeated infections? If there's no lasting damage and it's facing a more tuned-in immune system the expected result would be a lower incidence.

And we see athletes with higher rates of Long Covid than the population at large. Or do we? That could also be explained by athletes being more aware of where their limits are and are used to pushing themselves to those limits--hence they are more aware of impairment.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#134

Post by jstarfish »

LorenPechtel wrote: post #126
sa-code wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that this it's a good excuse, but it stressed doctors out when they are not able to diagnose something. So when all the tests and checks look good they are quick to dismiss the problems as psychosomatic as a way to cope with the stress of being unable to diagnose you. It's a dysregulation of the ANS/sympathetic nervous system which is likely caused by auto antibodies - so it's very much physiological and outside…

Yup. Most doctors are basically glorified pigeonholers. Grab pigeon (patient), find matching hole, put pigeon in hole and read the directions on the hole. Unfortunately, when there isn't an obvious matching hole they tend to stuff them in wrong holes (there are conditions for which getting the right diagnosis often takes years), or when they don't see any appropriate hole they stuff them in the "crazy" hole. And the…

[dead]

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#136

Post by jules-jules »

mlrtime wrote: post #99
sa-code wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit out there but I read some books on polyvagal theory that suggested I could induce the "rest & digest" state by leaning into and completing the "fight or flight" and "shutdown" states. There are many nervous system calming techniques that help e.g. rubbing my coat hanger area (if you draw a coat hanger between your neck and shoulders on the front & back), chanting om or making sighing noises, and taking…

I wonder if the opposite works, heavy weight lifting? Pushing heavy weights is very taxing on the nervous system and kicks it into gear to start the process of growth.

I'd be careful with strenuous exercise, it may cause PEM. See comments below.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#137

Post by fragmede »

thenerdhead wrote: post #94

Long COVID is horrible. I have had it for three years. I follow the research quite closely and wrote a book about what we know about it, how it affects someone and their health, and some observations on how absurd of a condition it is from the lens of someone struggling with it. Here’s a free digital copy if anyone wants to read it: https://jondouglas.dev/longhaul

Thank you. I have it too and having something to reference is invaluable.

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#138

Post by wahnfrieden »

mlyle wrote: post #115
immibis wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between a pandemic and an endemic is that we don't want to stop an endemic. The virus is the same; the effects are the same but more averaged out with fewer peaks and troughs; they are just as bad.

> is that we don't want to stop an endemic. In my opinion, there's no significant levers left to push to affect infection rates much. Of course, we should be doing everything reasonable we can to tamp down COVID (and the flu). But short of permanent quarantine or forcing anti-vaxxers to get vaccinated, I'm not sure what there's left to do. (It would be nice if we could socially normalize and encourage wearing a mask…

Don’t force people into offices, and solve a bit of the climate crisis too

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#139

Post by r2_pilot »

laylower wrote: post #122
tdudhhu wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you look at the Epstein-Barr virus we call the result of the infection all kinds of syndromes. Personally I had Long Epstein-Barr for almost a year. So I know it's no joke. Most virus infections can cause long term problems.

How did you diagnose you had Long Epstein-Barr?

Not the parent but speaking from (multiple) EB occurances, you can get a mono spot test if it's suspected. My last rodeo, it took excluding hepABC, AIDS, cytomegalovirus, and finally a mono spot (along with liver enzymes testing 2x a week for the month I was bedridden...)

Re: Long Covid brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brain

#140

Post by nradov »

abrookewood wrote: post #10

Recently read an article suggesting that we should drop the term Long Covid, as it implies that there is something unique about it, when the research seems to show that the impairment post-Covid is very similar to that from Influenza: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-s...

This Medscape article summarizes research on the issue with greater clinical detail. Post infection symptoms appear to depend more on the severity of the infection rather than the particular virus involved.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/993373

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