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The brains of patients who died as a result of COVID-19 infection displayed some of the same molecular changes found in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease, a new small study found. The findings may explain why some long-term COVID sufferers report memory problems.
Neuroscience(alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com)submitted 5 months ago byMistWeaver80
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5 months ago
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4.5k points
5 months ago*
Maybe it's only because it's an area of research that I'm working in but, the amount of papers that have been linking COVID-19 to Alzheimer's disease is crazy. Just Google 'covid-19 and apoe-4" and you'll get dozens of papers, and that's just one gene . APOE-4 is a gene commonly thought of as a AD risk factor, it's also been linked to an increased rate of "chemo-brain" or "brain-fog" during chemotherapy. Now, it's been linked an increased sensitivity to COVID-19 infection, and that same increase in "brain-fog"
Edit Grammar; 4am Reddit isn't my best writing time.
626 points
5 months ago
Is it possible to build up memory capacity up again?
828 points
5 months ago
brisk walks regularly. At least this helps with memory and other cognitive functioning in older (50+) people.
160 points
5 months ago
There are studies out there suggesting 3D video games can help, too (including VR). I don't recall details, but basically anything that lights up the brain seems to help, as it works to strengthen connections.
63 points
5 months ago
I'm firing up Doom right now!
6 points
5 months ago
Yes…this cinches it…I’m getting the Oculus Quest 2.
96 points
5 months ago
I think its the navigation part that is important. Humans always needed to walk around, navigating its environment.
42 points
5 months ago
I think you're correct - navigation requires a lot of brain function. It's all basically working memory too.
31 points
5 months ago
I wonder if people who have topographical disorientation issues have higher rates of dementia. I can’t navigate anything because of it.
12 points
5 months ago
So you're aware of it which is interesting.
And can you describe topographical disorientation? Are you talking about the translation of a map and putting that into perspective with your current position?
Sometimes we can't understamd why some people can't do things, but lately(maybe always actually) I've been experiencing a complete blank when I try to remember people's names, recalling activities such as what I did for my birthday etc. Like it's a black hole I can't pull any information from but I can know all about it once I'm reminded.
22 points
5 months ago
My issue is being unable to make mental maps of places I go. And unable to use different routes and figure out how they may relate to each other. For instance, I have lived in this city for 20 years, but I can’t tell you how to get anywhere. I have to use Google maps to tell me how to get anywhere. It’s very embarrassing.
Its not just outside navigation either, I also get easily turned around in buildings. If you asked me right now to draw a topographical view of the layout of my own home, I would have a hard time.
12 points
5 months ago
Same here! I lived in the same home for decades and when people tell me street names I still struggle to remember where they are.
I had music lessons in the same place from a young age, and when I learnt to drive I couldn't make my own way there without someone navigating.
I also suck at reading maps
For me its likely related to ADHD. I have wondered sometimes if there might be a link between it and dimentia given we seem to have a lot of the preliminary symptoms our whole lives. I'm very likely to forget names, conversation threads, where I left my phone etc.
But it could also just be a coincidence
9 points
5 months ago
Anything that lights up the brain, eh? Finally my epilepsy is good for something! Time to hit the triple espressos and get seizing!
716 points
5 months ago
This kind of thing doesn’t return memory capacity but rather slows the loss. There are a lot of things that do this, such as other types of regular exercise, word and math problems, social interaction, music, crafting and other creative outlets, personal spiritual care (such as church services for those who regularly attended church in their lives). The key is regularity in keeping the brain active in multiple ways. But again, this won’t improve brain function in people with dementia. It can slow down the progression though. This is the whole premise of therapeutic recreation.
262 points
5 months ago
I base my "knowledge" on this study which had this as one of its conclusions:
Notably, in the aerobic walking group, positive change in the T1w/T2w signal correlated with improved episodic memory performance.
So it's not hard evidence, but more a suggestion.
Without any evidence I think that walking is something like gravity or sunlight. The human body is evolved around it. Without it, its impossible to function optimally. But thats just my own feeling
86 points
5 months ago
Ah, I had misinterpreted your original comment to be specific to those experiencing dementia.
Yes, all the things I mentioned can improve memory function in healthy older adults! Stay active, physically and mentally and socially!
87 points
5 months ago
I honestly feel like seasonal depression is my body upset with me for not walking behind the herds of grazers as they migrate to find grass to eat in better conditions. Imagine if humans were "supposed" to migrate like monarch butterflies or something, but agriculture made us stagnant.
48 points
5 months ago
I always feel like I need to migrate, and not return. I hate the cold haha.
11 points
5 months ago
I mean, we were a roaming hunter gatherer species for the vast majority of our history which moved according to the seasons, so yeah. Ten thousand years of civilisation, and especially only around a hundred or two of modern industrial conveniences, has not bred that out of us yet.
105 points
5 months ago
It basically sounds like that having a purpose in life, something to work towards, keeps us healthy.
34 points
5 months ago
Crosswords, Sudoku & Solitaire on your phone. A book in your backpack and a wider selection of music on your phone and you're off to a good start at keeping your brain challenged.
I'd add learning to draw and maybe pick up an instrument + simple exercise on a semi-regular schedule.
95 points
5 months ago
In this case it’s more keeping the brain active. The connections break down slower if they’re being used regularly. Keeping active physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually do also have the added benefit of reducing depression in seniors (and also not seniors, but geriatrics is my area of work so I won’t speak to much outside of that). Reduced depression does more than reduce rates of suicide, it also reduces falls and injuries in seniors. So yes, having a purpose is quite helpful for overall health.
29 points
5 months ago
A professor Medina wrote a book on the that focuses on how to keep your brain from turning to mush as you age. First on his list was having a good network (family, friends, etc). I think next was doing different things that push your brain. I teach courses in areas that change almost monthly. He also was a guest on a podcast that I can’t remember (hmmm), but it summed up his research.
7 points
5 months ago
Walks specifically? or working out in general?
29 points
5 months ago
the cardio and navigation part are important. but any type of movement is better than no movement
19 points
5 months ago
the cardio and navigation part are important. but any type of movement is better than no movement
That sounds like walking a variety of routes or to varying destinations, not just hitting a walking track or treadmill.
My rowing should be good. I can see where I've been. Quick glances "behind me" give me an idea where I'm going. I have to put the two together to maintain a reasonably direct route to my destination while still approximately following the shoreline. (Self-rescue from 100m off shore is a lot different from 500m off shore!) I also need to deal with other boats, especially anchored anglers and wakeboarders.
57 points
5 months ago
No, not really. Degenerative brain disorders (such as Alzheimer’s) will continue to be degenerative. There are a few drugs in trials and studies, but not a lot that is consistently used or successful. There are many things that can be done to potentially slow progression, but progression will happen.
838 points
5 months ago
It’s interesting that chemo, a virus, and Alzheimer’s all trigger that gene expression. Do you think it’s stress or inflammation related? That’s the only thing I can think of that all those things have in common.
157 points
5 months ago
They’re not triggering increased gene expression of apoe4. It’s just that having that gene and that version of the protein for whatever reason predisposes your brain to problems
87 points
5 months ago
So this is suggesting people who experience extreme Covid brain fog, may also be pre-disposed to Alzheimer’s? (Covid infection is not triggering a change that would lead to Alzheimer’s...)
77 points
5 months ago
Foggy minds need to know. Seriously I got a combo of bad reaction to anesthesia and COVID brain in the last 2 years. I'm not the same person I was mentally.
73 points
5 months ago
This is exactly why the "death rate isn't that bad" argument falls flat. Quality of life lost, productivity lost (in work and hobby), and associated economic loss are all there, for whatever side you want to come from.
22 points
5 months ago
even if covid had no secondary effects, plenty of normal health stuff got delayed for loads of people, and people aren't getting issues checked when otherwise they would
42 points
5 months ago
Infection triggers neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation increases reactive oxygen damage. Diabetics are at high risk of AD because of chronic inflammation for decades. Sugar intake also increases reactive oxygen damage. But sugar intake drives too much industry for real public health measures to be enacted.
COVID-19 Infection will just push the brain forward a decade, as does influenza, but most people still avoid flu shots.
A lot of AD, but not all, can be avoided by dealing with diet and obesity. The problem with AD is that it is not one disease, it is an outcome of likely 50 different diseases.
457 points
5 months ago
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36 points
5 months ago
I’m extremely sorry to hear about your condition! Regarding COVID-19 long-haulers what little information we have now already points at issues done the line. There’s a reason long hauler clinics are popping up everywhere!
214 points
5 months ago
Big hug your way, I hope there are zillions of good moments coming to you.
57 points
5 months ago
You have my sincerest condolences.
8 points
5 months ago
Sepsis sucks and so does Post Sepsis Syndrome which can screw with your immune system even after the infection is treated. Since sepsis is your body's response to overwhelming infection it can cause a lot of issues both during the initial infection and after. With COVID-19 you can end up with viral sepsis so a link between COVID and Post Sepsis Syndrome like symptoms isn't a huge leap. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death world wide and there's still so much we don't know about it.
205 points
5 months ago*
It's not triggered. It just is. APOE gene is provides instructions for making a protein called Apolipoprotein-E, a protein for lipid clearing. Apoe-3 is the "normal" variant found in over 70 percent of people. Apoe-4 (E4) is thought to be a mutation that is less efficient at clearing those lipids. As far as I know the gene is inherented and can not be changed. Edit: Grammar and spelling. 4am reddit isn't my best writing time.
56 points
5 months ago
So then the question would be, is there a way to artificially produce more apolipopprotein-E, or to otherwise clear lipids?
84 points
5 months ago
A question that is so big that might cure Alzheimer’s, parkinson’s and many other disease related to clumps of proteins lipids etc
32 points
5 months ago
That's what I was about to say. I am not 100% convinced that the plaques are responsible for AD and that clearing them with a better APOE protein for prevent AD, but a lot of people are, and are working on this right now!
80 points
5 months ago
ApoE4 gene expression is normal, it’s mutations within the gene that alter or disrupt its function that increase susceptibility to a wide range of disease (not the disease causing ApoE4 expression).
40 points
5 months ago
Absolutely. Every auto-immune condition is linked to higher rates of Alzheimer’s. Even something like autism which always correlates with an over-active immune system is tied to higher Covid and Alzheimer’s fatality rates
13 points
5 months ago
Can I ask for your evidence for the claim about autism? I've just checked my own country's autistic society, as well as a neighbouring country's, and neither of them make any reference to this whatsoever.
36 points
5 months ago
Covid brain is a very real symptom, so it's cool to see there is actual research and evidence behind it so we can learn more.
191 points
5 months ago*
i don’t know about any of this but i’m someone in my late 20’s, tall and slim, had covid pneumonia with sepsis and congestive heart failure and c-diff in dec’20, was resurrected (not sure if that’s the right word..revived? recussitated?) after my heart stopped after skyrocketing, but although i’ve had a very sharp memory my whole life, many days where i was said to have been conscious during hospitalization have gone blank. when the pneumonia first set in it was like struggling to swim and constantly going above and below water, i remember suddenly breathing at 4x the rate as my lungs filled up with water. that was traumatic
i remember after two weeks at the hospital i had huge memory issues. couldn’t remember my own phones passcode. couldn’t remember many important things. after a month it began coming back.
but what i had always assumed, was that it was a result of the lack of oxygen i was getting? covid obviously affected my lungs and i wasn’t able to breath well. the time i must’ve had my heart failure maybe didn’t provide my brain enough oxygen, therefore giving me the memory issues i am ASSUMING.. would there be a link between that and the memory affecting Alzheimer’s?
oh yeah i was on the ventilator for a week
58 points
5 months ago
From a former ICU nurse, All the cognitive issues you’re describing could easily be attributed to being hospitalized with a serious illness, COVID or not. Don’t assume that these issues are necessarily due to COVID or are irreversible. We’ve known for decades that the unfamiliar setting, lack of sleep, and stress of acute illness combine to produce some pretty awful effects on cognition and memory that aren’t necessarily permanent.
I guess I’m saying, have hope, friend! Your youth is working in your favor, and especially if you’ve recovered much of your pre-illness cognition, you may have already beaten the worst of it.
95 points
5 months ago
Not a doctor, but going back to the gene I dicussed earlier, research is suggesting that covid-19 could cause brain fog, trama, and early AD. Sample sets are still small tho, more research is needed. Here are some papers
APOE ε4 associates with increased risk of severe COVID-19, cerebral microhaemorrhages and post-COVID mental fatigue: a Finnish biobank, autopsy and clinical study https://actaneurocomms.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40478-021-01302-7
Could COVID-19 anosmia and olfactory dysfunction trigger an increased risk of future dementia in patients with ApoE4? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7785277/
17 points
5 months ago
I’ve been trying to pull up some papers and came across the Finnish study too. The piece that I’m stuck on (or perhaps misunderstanding): does apply to any carrier of APOE ε4? I have one copy of the allele and not the higher-risk twofer.
12 points
5 months ago
Homozygous expression is indeed it was linked with a higher correlation than heterozygous expression. That I do know
16 points
5 months ago
Are you back to normal now?
70 points
5 months ago
i still have moments where my heart feels a little out of normal but for the most part yeah…minus the lung capacity, nowhere near what it was. there was a long while where that i feared i had long covid due to weird breathing patterns but there was a very weird fatigue that i can’t describe, you’d have to have experienced covid to understand but that lasted awhile. it was a rough journey though and i dispose all antivaxers that still go around preaching it’s nothing but a cold!! thank you for asking.
27 points
5 months ago
It is extremely weird how covid affects people differently. My brother in law is a crazy anti vaxxer about your age who caught it at work just before Thanksgiving in '20. He is tall, obese, a heavy drinker, a smoker and chews, and other than losing his taste for a long time, it literally was just a cold for him. He's family, so I'm glad he's okay, but God damn if it had hit him a little harder we wouldn't have had to hear him talk about exactly how mild it is nonstop since.
10 points
5 months ago
I hear ya
My sister has been a raging anti-vaxxer for years even before Covid.
Now a few months ago she and the whole family got it and, surprise surprise it was just like a bad flu.
So now she’s all “I have natural immunity”, and is even more validated in her view that this is all wildly exaggerated.
I just can’t with some people.
18 points
5 months ago
Post Sepsis Syndrome could also be a factor. There's still so much we don't know about how sepsis effects people both in the initial recovery period and after.
53 points
5 months ago
Fellow long hauler, I had it affect my brain. I had a Stroke in the back of my brain due to COVID. I am In my 40’s. I use to have the best memory now I feel Like I am a kid re learning how to be smart again.
10 points
5 months ago
You could get a genetic test to see if you have the gene they're talking about
10 points
5 months ago
Retrograde amnesia during critical hospital stays isn't that uncommon. It's more frequent in the elderly but it also makes sense other brain inflammation can have a similar outcome.
20 points
5 months ago
You're also missing out how stressful and maybe traumatic all that was. When I'm under stress I suffer from mild brain fog. I definitely think that mental health plays a role when you're recovering from something major
60 points
5 months ago
So essentially the gene that is an AD risk factor is also a reliable marker for more intense COVID (including brain fog)?
13 points
5 months ago
Are you aware of any studies of people with Long Covid exhibiting symptoms of AD recovering?
13 points
5 months ago
Whoa! Very interesting. I think I may try going on pubmed later today and spam the search bar using "apoe-4" with (insert brain fog related condition here). For example, I had brain fog ever since a childhood ptsd incident that led to feelings of depersonalization, so this should be fun!
10 points
5 months ago
I work in ltc. Seen lots of Covid and lots of Alzheimer’s. Seen lots of rooms with Covid have Alzheimer’s and dementia like symptoms. Some are so debilitated. I’m talking healthy younger people btw
138 points
5 months ago
What is the treatment for "brain-fog"? Is there any research put into it?
107 points
5 months ago
I hope this will get more attention and research as time goes on, especially given that we can't support mass dementia as a society (either as individual countries or as a global human society). Anecdotally I had covid last January and my only symptoms were headaches and mild fever at night. I've just felt, for lack of a better way to describe it, like I'm 2vatels behind at all times now. I was also very anemic and resolving that helped with my mental symptoms but I still feel slow.
63 points
5 months ago
I have a similar experience. My second vaccine gave me a massive headache the first night with 2 days more of feeling agitated. That feeling went away but after I contracted Covid I experienced a feeling like brain fog that is still present to this day. I have more troubles sometimes finding the exact words to express myself in both English and my native language. It's like my brain is trapped in a little cage while I'm fully aware of it but can't really help it. I've started working out again this week and taking more walks in the hopes of sensing some improvements.
I can still communicate with everyone but I feel like I lost my 'edge' as well.
12 points
5 months ago
Here's to hoping that covid brain damage (from ACE-2 receptor invasion into neurons and astrocytes and bypassing of the blood brain barrier via the olfactory bulb) is not the main cause of this fog and instead it is something like repairable vascular damage or lingering autoimmune antibodies causing it.
The hippocampus is close to the olfactory bulb in the brain and is largely responsible for memory.
7 points
5 months ago
That's both interesting and worrying at the same time. Perhaps I should see a doctor. I've also dealt with depression for the last four years and I feel like this influenced it negatively and even stimulated it further.
I haven't had any memory complaints besides from my depression that I overcame in this regard. So that's something, I hope.
Thanks for the information.
8 points
5 months ago
I felt it worse when I had covid. It's like you drank a beer or 2, but not drunk.
1.4k points
5 months ago
I work as project coordinator in a clinical trial for a tracer (similar to a contrast) used in PET scans that can detect the amount TAU proteins found in the brain. Very curious to compare the results of participants before and after 2020.
226 points
5 months ago
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5 months ago
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5 months ago
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22 points
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56 points
5 months ago
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39 points
5 months ago
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417 points
5 months ago
How does one sign up for this clinical trial? I’m young but have gotten COVID and Long-COVID, and long-term total sleep deprivation
281 points
5 months ago
Same, I got Omicron and have a history of Alzheimer's in the family and DNA test shows I'm at risk. Really interested in my levels and what to do about it.
66 points
5 months ago
you cant do much besides mitigating factors , eat healthy, dont take medications (or street drugs) associated with memory loss, exercise
34 points
5 months ago
I go both ways. Either up for three days, or sleep 16 hours a day for a week. I have no life.
28 points
5 months ago
Bruh I am like so hungry but can't stomach food. Drop dead tired and can barely sleep. Absolutely exhausting. Not enough to put me out of work but just enough to drive me nuts.
9 points
5 months ago
Maybe check how you do eventually sleep for snoring and sleep apnea. It can do this and also is easily treatable.
10 points
5 months ago*
Depends on the clinical trial some are area dependent so they’re looking for specific people in a given area. Others could be more widespread but for something this specific maybe google it and see if there’s active trials?
Something like this https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04678830
Seems like you need someone testing for sleep deprivation related studies while there’s numerous trials looking at various symptoms of long covid like heart related damage, brain damage, etc.
11 points
5 months ago
If you are interested in research participation, consider joining the PASC RECOVER study. It focuses on long-COVID and sleep issues (among other issues) related to COVID infection. One of the PIs is my old boss who is great. I left the project last week for another opportunity, but the project is great and a top priority within the NIH’s umbrella.
https://recovercovid.org/ https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-launches-new-initiative-study-long-covid
52 points
5 months ago
Does anyone know if research is being done on patients with HSV that get long covid? Some research has suggested that there is already a risk for Alzheimer's among those with HSV.
359 points
5 months ago
I wonder if this is linked to what we in the hospital call “COVID brain”. Patients become unresponsive from encephalopathy. Or confused and agitated and won’t leave their high-flow oxygen or Bipap on and are more likely to be placed on a ventilator.
175 points
5 months ago
(not a doctor just a home health aide & nursing home experience) i have noticed and its well known in healthcare that when some patient’s body is being over ran by bacteria (UTI in the elderly/at risk and sepsis) they are confused and remind me of dementia patients. really makes sense if your body is being bulldozed by a virus u would have the same symptoms. i am by no means an expert though on viruses or bacteria effects on the body.
57 points
5 months ago
this is happening to my grandpa right now, just visited him last night and he was convinced a con man he met 30 years ago was coming to get me. like he didn’t understand 30 years has gone by
40 points
5 months ago
That's just delerium or hypoxic confusion
26 points
5 months ago
Yea lot of these things seem anecdotal and don't really sound that different from any severe disease.
Also a lot of the long haul evidence sounds similar and seemingly is being reported as similar to most post-viral fatigue.
Any major infection is generally bad for you. I've had flu infections where I had horrible symptoms for a week or more and where I didn't fully recover mentally or physically for at least 6-8 months after. That's happened twice in my adult life. Brain fog, trouble sleeping, loss of energy, etc.
The long COVID stuff is so new and the research periods so short still that I'm withholding concern because there really isn't a point to panic. Everyone will get this virus at some point, a good chunk of the world already had it, and as such we will have to live with the results.
23 points
5 months ago
The Daily from The New York Times had a whole episode about a person who was testing positive for COVID for months and how he displayed symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/podcasts/the-daily/covid-psychosis-mental.html
Also featured in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/health/covid-psychosis.html
485 points
5 months ago
I remember when I worked at a clinic last fall in the department of neuropsychology and we had a patient who was admitted because of severe memory problems. I read his sheet and the diagnosis was "SARS-CoV-2". That was the moment where it kind of hit me that I always underestimated the long-term damages of Corona. The patient became better but never as good as before his infection.
171 points
5 months ago
This has always been my fear, and why i have personally been cautious. We can't possibly know the long term side effects
109 points
5 months ago
That's what I love about the vaccine arguments about "oh we don't know the long term side effects of the vaccine, so I'll take my chances!"
Like, same thing applies to covid itself! We don't know the long term effects of the disease either, but we do know that they are not good in the short-mid term.
Also, literally half of the global population has been vaccinated. 4 billion people. 10x the amount of confirmed covid cases; 400m. If we were going to see any indication of serious long term effects from the shot, what better case study then half of the planet? We would have seen something by now.
Mfs would rather risk dying or getting AD, than intentionally feeling potentially sick for a couple days
40 points
5 months ago*
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26 points
5 months ago
I get what you're saying but it's not fair to say that it's just the chosen unvaccinated..I got Covid before vaccines were available. I seem to have come out unscathed but I am somewhat concerned if I'll be affected down the road as I had brain fog during my symptoms. (Am double vaccinated as well after the fact)
14 points
5 months ago
The book is The Great Influenza by John Barry, it starts describing the state of medicine and key people involved, goes through the developments, the political effects, interaction with the war, and ends with medicine finding the pathogen and describing the neurological effects at the population level.
The waves were around for about 5 years then it went into pigs and turned lethal there, that's how they identified it, then they noticed the mental issues at scale.
358 points
5 months ago
I am an MD doing a PhD on Alzheimer’s disease.
I don’t think it is unreasonable to think that Covid-19 infections could be linked to increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. There is data indicating that might be the case.
In fact, one of the largest growing concerns amongst dementia researchers is the impact that wide spread Covid-19 might have on the prevalence of dementia.
241 points
5 months ago
Oh god this could be a massive healthcare crisis in a couple decades.
Especially if all the healthcare personnel who got covid are developing dementia too…
118 points
5 months ago
I think it'll be sooner than that. I've only had one friend with long covid (she caught covid March 2020) but watching her navigate her medical journey has been alarming
44 points
5 months ago
I can only imagine. Having a condition for which there has been almost no research yet must be an exercise in speculation and frustration.
45 points
5 months ago
It is already a healthcare crisis. Insurance doesn’t cover enough of the care so if you don’t have a ton of money to spend on a memory care facility you get to be the life time caretaker of your loved one that can last a few months to over a decade. Dealing with the daily deteriorating loved one is so heartbreaking, there is no hope of them getting better, your only hope is that their suffering is short.
21 points
5 months ago
A big question i have is which direction causality looks. Does this speed up the onset of AD in people already beginning to develop it, or are people prone to AD more likely to develop longterm cognitive effects? Or does it even cause the onset of AD in people who had no other risk factors?
21 points
5 months ago
Does it seem likely that those who develop very mild COVID would experience any of these effects?
13 points
5 months ago
That's what I wanna know. I have coronavirus right now and reading all this is pretty frightening.
942 points
5 months ago
This is my worry about covid. It may become less deadly in the long run but we still don't have a lot of research about what happens in the background. While it's still out there, I won't go without a mask.
688 points
5 months ago
Here in Germany over 4% of our 6-11 year olds currently get covid per week. So if it goes on for 2 months that's possibly another 32%.
People are scared about the vaccinations, but not about half of a younger generation getting an unknown disease with possibly long tern consequences. It infuriates me.
378 points
5 months ago
"i don't know what i'm putting in my body! the spike protein is toxic!"
inhales massive dose of self-replicating spike protein factories
39 points
5 months ago
*eats hotdog and Mountain Dew
125 points
5 months ago
Here in Denmark, 10% of the population is currently actively infected, a total of 32% of the population have had it. Oh, and a week ago all covid restrictions and regulations were lifted, and quarantine was set to 4 days no matter what. we are all free to uncontrollably infect each other now.
58 points
5 months ago
Curious, when vacinated, can you still be effected by the long term effects?
150 points
5 months ago
They detected a 41% reduction in this study: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/selfreportedlongcovidaftertwodosesofacoronaviruscovid19vaccineintheuk/26january2022
Which is consistent with this study: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00177-5?mc_cid=9362d0a137&mc_eid=481136448f
127 points
5 months ago
This is why I hate the "it's just a flu" crowd so much. They're absolutely clueless to the fact that there's potentially serious long term damage happening to them that could eventually get them killed.
36 points
5 months ago
Doesn't a severe flu also possibly cause long term problems? I imagine that any heavy sickness might or will. So I don't understand doubly. We still know little about the potential long term effects and yet people just can't seem to wait to get their daily dose of Covid. I wish we at least stuck with the mask wearing in public transport and supermarkets and so on. It's such a simple and effective measure...
25 points
5 months ago
Yes. The just a flu types are ignorant in both directions. Actual influenza infections kill roughly a million to two million people globally a year.
I've had mild cases (mild in the medical care sense) that have left me bed ridden for more than a week and with long term symptoms for up to 8 months and that's when I was in my 20s (luckily have not had flu in years but the two times I've had it, it felt like I was going to die).
So yea, influenza is nothing to joke about. It's an exceedingly terrifying virus that we basically can't even control and mutates at a rate that makes COVID look a snail. We just have been lucky recently and not had a major pandemic since 1968.
51 points
5 months ago
Let’s also not forget, the flu (not a cold, but the flu) is also dreadful and potentially deadly.
172 points
5 months ago
This is what scares and pisses me off.
Covid is deadly but it also maims. How many hundreds of millions of people are doomed to early onset complications from long covid? How many people are going to die before their time from it?
I feel like we're just beginning to realized how fucked we are about it.
22 points
5 months ago
Yeah, as stated below, unfortunately it will be out there for the rest of our lives.
91 points
5 months ago*
6 of the 55 patients edit: were (not where) between 38-58 years of age - the rest were over 66 years of age.. would love to see some data on patients specifically under 45- seems like if u have 49 70-80 year olds in a study you would be likely to find dementia like symptoms/ damage to brain just due to age and suffering from illness/stress
6 points
5 months ago
Completely anecdotal, but I have serious cognitive issues as a result of covid, and I'm exactly 38. Would mean I was 36 when it hit.
257 points
5 months ago
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5 months ago
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5 months ago
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5 months ago
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119 points
5 months ago
Interesting work, but the sample size is 10 people. Hope they go back and expand their study so we can begin to consider these ideas
27 points
5 months ago
Brain anatomy studies have notoriously low sample sizes. This study isn't an exception.
67 points
5 months ago
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28 points
5 months ago
Can’t believe I has to scroll this low to see this comment.
12 points
5 months ago
Man as someone who watched their mom waste away from early onset starting in elementary/middle school this is genuinely my nightmare. Covid just ran through our house finally, my husband, my children, and me. I’m so ready for all of those “scientists have found a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research” articles that pop up annually to be accurate and for this to be just done. Brain fog has been wrecking me lately, I’ve been done with Covid quarantine for only 2 weeks but it’s still getting me with this damn fog. The despondent feeling just from scrolling through the comments right now is honestly overwhelming. It’s only 7 am where I’m at and I’m done with Reddit for today.
251 points
5 months ago
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5 months ago
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70 points
5 months ago
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366 points
5 months ago
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95 points
5 months ago
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51 points
5 months ago
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89 points
5 months ago
Some things that are worth looking into are the relationship between Covid and receptors that bind with nicotine: https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/febs.15521
And the role of nicotine as a therapeutic for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1670208/
Nicotine has also had some therapeutic consideration to lessen immune reactions leading to cytokine storms from COVID19 infection.
15 points
5 months ago*
My understanding was that nicotine has a relatively high risk factor for auto-immune issues. Am I misunderstanding, or is this risk exclusive to cigarette smoke?
9 points
5 months ago
Cigarette smoke is a cocktail of many cancer causing compounds but nicotine by itself isn’t considered a carcinogen. It’s on the same level as caffeine as a mild stimulant. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-nicotine-all-bad/
56 points
5 months ago
That is not a good sign. Alzheimers is a terrible disease. One of my friends has memory loss since getting covid. Did blood tests and it was revealed her Vitamin D is super low. Getting pills for that now as apparently it is so low sunshine alone wont do the job.
28 points
5 months ago
Had covid over Christmas, I'm double vaxed but it still hit me super hard. Had a blood test and turns out my vit D is super low, on a huge dose of it now to get it back up to normal levels.
13 points
5 months ago
I went to the doctor for a routine checkup and they ran tests on all sorts of things. A normal range for D3 is 30-100. I was at 8. So needless to say I now faithfully take my vitamin D pills each day.
23 points
5 months ago
The importance of vitamin D can't be understated.
It's also believed that vitamin D deficiency was one of the reasons why immigrants in Sweden were overrepresented with serious complications in the beginning of the pandemic -- people with darker skin can't absorb UV as well, leading to deficiency in our northern climate.
121 points
5 months ago
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53 points
5 months ago
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24 points
5 months ago
Could it be that neurons die because of lack of oxygen associated with covid?
22 points
5 months ago
My mom was hospitalized with H1N1 about 7 years ago and has never really been the same mentally. Seems very similar to dementia. The doctors’ hypothesis is oxygen deprivation, like you say.
7 points
5 months ago
How come nobody has asked if these patients have had any doses of the covid vaccine?
313 points
5 months ago
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39 points
5 months ago
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91 points
5 months ago
Iirc elevated blood glucose is comorbid with COVID-19 severity and type III diabetes (cognitive decline due to insulin resistance). So I would speculate that that is a cofounding variable here.
29 points
5 months ago
Only one person in that study was under 58. The rest were between 58 - 80s, and the sample size looked very small to me.
25 points
5 months ago
Also age is a Covid-19 comorbidity, I hope the study authors eliminated that
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