Severe Covid-19 ages the brain as if it were 71 years old

Jakarta, CNNI Indonesia —

Search for member of Harvard University reveals the brain of a positive person COVID-19 severe looks similar to the brain of an elderly person 71 years of age and older. This was discovered through post mortem analysis of 54 healthy and infected people.

“We observed that the genes in the brain tissue of patients who died from Covid-19 were very similar to those of uninfected 71-year-olds,” said Jonathan Lee, a public health scientist at Harvard University. Scientific alarm.

The experts used a sample of people between their early twenties and mid-eighties. This sample includes 21 people with severe Covid-19, one individual with no symptoms and 22 people who are not infected with the corona virus.

They also compared their results with individuals without Covid-19 disease who developed Alzheimer’s disease and another group consisting of 9 individuals who were not infected with Covid-19 but had a history of hospitalization or ventilatory care.

Using RNA sequencing technology on samples from the prefrontal cortex, experts have found that patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit a gene expression pattern similar to that of aging. The brains of infected individuals are said to appear similar to those of older individuals.

“We also observed significant associations between cellular responses to DNA damage, mitochondrial function, regulation of stress and oxidative stress responses, vesicular transport, calcium homeostasis, and insulin secretion/signaling pathways that were previously associated with aging and brain aging processes,” they write. the researchers authors in a study published in the Journal Nature this.

“Overall, our analyzes show that many of the biological pathways that change with natural aging in the brain also change in severe COVID-19,” they added.

Ever since the SARS-CoV-2 virus began infecting humans on a global scale, scientists have worried about the possible long-term consequences.

Brain damage is one of the more problematic effects. Severe cases of Covid-19 are often associated with difficulty concentrating (brain fog), memory loss, stroke, delirium or coma.

As of October 2020, initial brain scans in Corona patients have revealed worrying signs of neurological disorders and disorders.

Subsequent studies have found that even mild Covid-19 can affect the brain. Though it’s unclear how long these changes last or how they compare to severe Covid-19.

The results of this study support the findings of another study published earlier this year. According to the study, the cognitive impact in severe Covid-19 patients is equivalent to 20 years of aging.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

(lom/lth)

[Gambas:Video CNN]