The coronavirus can damage the brain. Researchers at the Amsterdam UMC discovered this. Covid-19 in some cases causes the brain’s immune system to run wild.
Pathologist Paul van der Valk and his team examined the brains of eleven corona patients who died. In ten of them, the disease had left clear traces in the brain and spinal cord. Immune cells were found that do not belong there.
“These are cells that are normally banned from the brain,” says Van der Valk, whose study in the authoritative Lancet Microbe popped up. “But in the Covid-19 patients, we saw that they had left the bloodstream and entered the brain tissue. Then I know as a pathologist: something is very wrong here. ”
Since the virus itself was not found in the brain, the researcher suspects that the immune system has accidentally attacked certain proteins in the brain. “That can happen if the protein somewhat resembles the virus. The own immune system then runs wild. ”
According to the pathologist, it can explain why some patients still suffer from fatigue and concentration problems for a long time.
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