We Just Got More Evidence That Long COVID Is a Brain Injury

The exact nature of long COVID is still coming to light, but we just got some of the best evidence yet that this debilitating condition stems from a brain injury.

Using high-resolution scanners, researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford have shown microscopic, structural abnormalities in the brainstems of those recovering from COVID-19.

Signs of brain inflammation were present up to 18 months after first contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“We show that the brainstem is a site of vulnerability to long-term effects of COVID-19, with persistent changes evident in the months after hospitalization,” the authors of the study conclude.

https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae215

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  • FundMECFSResearchEnglish
    8·
    7 hours ago

    The majority of people with Long COVID were vaccinated. (Because the majority of people were vaccinated and vaccination only slightly reduces chances of long COVID).

    Also, many long COVID cases happened before the vaccines even came out.

    So I don’t think your attitude of victim blaming really works here.

    • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      7·
      3 hours ago

      I guess I should have been more specific. People who actively choose not to get vaccinated, and get terribly ill as a direct result of their delusional thinking, can blame themselves.

      If you took all the sensible precautions, like getting vaccinated, but ended up with long covid regardless, that’s not your fault. You did what you could, but some times even that isn’t enough.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      5 hours ago

      What’s your point? Don’t get vaccinated because it doesn’t prevent long covid anyway? Vaccination saves lives. Period. Even your own statistic pointed out a 2% difference between vax/non-vax in getting long covid, and with hundreds of millions of covid infections every year, that 2% is a significant number of people spared long covid by vaccination.

    • Josey_Wales@lemm.eeEnglish
      18·
      6 hours ago

      How do you know that the majority of people with Long COVID were vaccinated. This 2023 study says

      Current studies suggest that covid-19 vaccines might have protective and therapeutic effects on long covid. More robust comparative observational studies and trials are needed, however, to clearly determine the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing and treating long covid.