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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/>
For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 20, 2022 CONTACT: Carl P. Wonders, Ph.D., 301-496-5751, <e-mail:nindspressteam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> MEDIA AVAILABILITY RESEARCHERS HIGHLIGHT COVID-19 NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS AND NEED FOR RIGOROUS STUDIES WHAT: SARS-CoV-2 was initially identified as a respiratory virus, but it can affect the entire body, including the nervous system. In a new Viewpoint published in Science, Avindra Nath, M.D., clinical director of the National Institutes of Health’s
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and Serena Spudich, M.D., Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, highlight what is currently known about the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain, the importance of increased research
into the underlying causes of Long Covid and possible ways to treat its symptoms. Neurological symptoms that have been reported with acute COVID-19 include loss of taste and smell, headaches, stroke, delirium, and brain inflammation. There does not seem to be extensive infection of brain cells by the virus, but the neurological
effects may be caused by immune activation, neuroinflammation, and damage to brain blood vessels.
Acute COVID-19 infection can sometimes lead to long-lasting effects, that have collectively been termed “Long Covid,” and can include a wide variety of symptoms in the brain and nervous system that range from a loss of taste and smell,
impaired concentration, fatigue, pain, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders and/or headache to psychological effects such as depression or psychosis.
Drs. Nath and Spudich outline the current scientific understanding of the potential body responses to acute COVID-19 infection and how those responses could lead to Long Covid symptoms. They also draw parallels between the symptoms experienced
by individuals with Long Covid to those living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or post-Lyme disease, which suggests there could be common risk factors involved.
Finally, owing to the significant variability in symptoms from person to person and the fact that many individuals with Long Covid were healthy prior to a relatively mild COVID-19 infection, the authors highlight the urgent need for significant
research efforts into identifying the full extent of Long Covid complications and their causes. This kind of research, which would include the careful study of individuals with Long Covid categorized by their specific symptoms, is crucial to the development
of diagnostic and therapeutic tools to identify and treat what is becoming an ever-increasing public health concern. The NIH RECOVER < https://recovercovid.org/#:~:text=RECOVER%2C%20a%20research%20initiative%20from,SARS%2DCoV%2D2%20infection.> COVID initiative
is an ambitious research program to reach these goals. WHO: Avindra Nath, M.D., clinical director, NINDS. To arrange an interview, please contact NINDSPressTeam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
ARTICLE: Spudich S. and Nath A. “Nervous system consequences of COVID-19” Science. January 21, 2022. DOI: 10.1126/science.abm2052. NINDS (https://www.ninds.nih.gov) is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the
burden of neurological disease. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting
and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit <https://www.nih.gov>. NIH...Turning Discovery into Health -- Registered, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ### This NIH News Release is available online at: <https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/researchers-highlight-covid-19-neurological-symptoms-need-rigorous-studies> To subscribe (or unsubscribe) from NIH News Release mailings, go to <http://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USNIH_1>. If you subscribed via the NIH LISTSERV, go to <https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A0=nihpress>. |
