COVID-19 may damage blood vessels in the brain – not nerve cells
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)Many individuals with COVID-19 say they experience headaches, along with a “fuzziness” or brain fog that can persist for weeks or months following recovery from the acute respiratory symptoms. This is sometimes referred to as “COVID brain.” The long-term clinical implications of infection by the virus continue to baffle scientists and, until now, the neurological manifestations have been believed to be a result of direct damage to nerve cells. However, a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the virus might actually damage the brain’s small blood vessels rather than nerve cells, themselves.