Still trying to decide whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19? If you think you have brain fog and fatigue NOW…
A new study by Graham and colleagues, published online in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology provides more chilling data about the long term impact of COVID on the brain. “Persistent neurologic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 ‘long haulers'” is a prospective study of the first 100 consecutive COVID patients (SARS‐CoV‐2) presenting to their Neuro-COVID-19 clinic.
I’ve embedded the full study below, or you can view it at the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology website.
The most frequent comorbidities were depression/anxiety (42%) and autoimmune disease (16%). The main neurologic manifestations were: “brain fog” (81%), headache (68%), numbness/tingling (60%), dysgeusia (59%), anosmia (55%), and myalgias (55%). Both groups exhibited impaired quality of life in cognitive and fatigue domains. SARS‐CoV‐2+ patients performed worse in attention and working memory cognitive tasks compared to a demographic‐matched US population (T‐score 41.5 [37, 48.25] and 43 [37.5, 48.75], respectively; both p < 0.01).
Bottom line: Non‐hospitalized COVID‐19 “long haulers” experience prominent and persistent “brain fog” and fatigue that affect their cognition and quality of life.
(FYI, “dysgeusia” is a condition where a person’s perception of taste is altered; everything seems sweet, sour, bitter, or metallic, and anosmia is the inability to smell.)
I know there is concern about the vaccine but here’s my “simple girl” analysis:
- COVID-19 is very infectious. We will all either get vaccinated or get infected (this is NOT going away).
- While most people survive an infection, the long term effects of COVID-19 on the brain are very scary.
- You are a lot more likely to have long term problems from a COVID-19 infection than from the vaccine.
If you live in Montgomery Co, Texas and you are 16 years of age or older – you can get vaccinated at the Woodforest Bank Stadium. Please follow the link and click on the chat bot in the right lower corner of the screen.
Protect your brain from COVID-19 – get vaccinated.
–Caroline
acn3.51350
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
The opinions, comments, and content expressed or implied in my statements are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of Intellicure or any of the boards on which I serve.
