The development of memory loss and cognitive issues, often referred to as 'brain fog', as a result of Covid infection could be tied to the way the virus affects a person's spine.
A research team from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid of Covid survivors to determine if the causes of the brain fog was similar to that of other cognitive conditions.
They found elevated levels of proteins in the fluid of some Covid survivors, indicating that some inflammation occurred as a result of an immune response to the virus.
While 'long Covid' is a mysterious condition that can manifest itself in many ways, researchers are slowly putting the pieces together. Many long term side-effects a person feels from the virus have been tied to inflammation of different organs as an immune response.
Researchers found that 'brain fog' - or cognitive issues people face after a Covid infection - could be the result of antibodies and inflammation affecting person's cerebrospinal fluid. Many symptoms of 'long Covid' have been tied to inflammation of different organs as an immune response to the virus (file photo)
'It's possible that the immune system, stimulated by the virus, may be functioning in an unintended pathological way,' Dr Joanna Hellmuth, senior author of the study and researchers at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, in a statement.
Researchers, who published their findings Wednesday in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, recruited 32 Covid survivors for the study. None of the participants had a serious enough case of the virus that it required hospitalization.
Of the study group, 22 patients reported cognitive issues post-infection, while the other ten served as a control group.
Lumbar punctures, where a needle is inserted into a person's spine to collect fluid, on 17 participants, 13 of which experienced cognitive symptoms.
Ten of the 13 patients in the brain fog group
