A lot of research is currently being done on the new virus “Covid-19”. Scientists learn and doctors are increasingly aware of the pathogen. First, it was said that the virus caused a respiratory infection and that the lungs could become inflamed. It is now clear that the new coronavirus “Sars-CoV-2” not only fills the lungs, but also the heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and brain. The new findings draw people’s attention to the fact that the virus fills the entire system.
Researchers have now discovered that “Covid-19” can not only cause neurological symptoms, but also a wide range of psychiatric symptoms, such as that Spiegel reported. A survey among British doctors in the magazine Lancet Psychiatrie has shown that approximately 31 percent of the 125 patients with “Covid-19” reported psychiatric disorders. Ten patients suffered from new psychoses, six from similar illnesses and four from mood disorders, namely manic and depressive episodes.
Psychosis – a number of symptoms
Scientists from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London confirmed this information. They could too study Determine neuropsychiatric symptoms. Confusion and disorientation occurred in some “Covid 19” patients. Others had “Guillain-Barr syndrome”, which can lead to paralysis. They also observed psychoses: a 55-year-old woman wanted to observe lions and monkeys in her house.
Psychosis describes a series of symptoms in which those affected experience reality differently. This includes hallucinations or delusions, as well as mental disorders, strong fears or ego disorders. “A distinction is made between primary psychoses, the cause of which is unclear, and secondary, ie organic psychoses,” explains Gtz Thomalla, senior consultant for neurology at the Eppendorf University Hospital in Hamburg. Spiegel.
The senior doctor explains that organic psychoses can be caused by brain damage or inflammation. There have been cases where “Covid-19” has been associated with encephalitis. So it could be that this caused the psychosis, says Thomalla.
Damage to the nervous system permanent? important question remains open
“The question is to what extent the virus attacks the brain directly,” says Thomalla. “The inflammation can also be caused indirectly by the body’s excessive immune response to the virus.” It is not uncommon for the brain to be affected by serious infectious diseases. “The exciting question now is whether the patients will suffer permanent damage or whether they are organic psychoses that heal completely,” he explains.
There have been an increasing number of mild cases of coronavirus in recent weeks, some of which have been severe. Some patients have reported relapses with severe symptoms. So far, it is unclear among doctors and scientists what the cause of this is. The next step is to examine whether permanent damage to the nervous system or brain can explain some of the symptoms that can be seen in daily life.
Doctors at the “Kuno Children’s Hospital St. Hedwig” in Regensburg achieved a similar result in one study determine. 100 doctors and nurses were examined there. 28 of them were positive for “Covid-19”. All those infected showed a mild course, but all had an increase in the light chain of “neurofilaments”. It is a structuring protein in the nerve cells. For doctors, this is a sign that “Sars-CoV-2” can damage the nervous system, even if it is mild. “This is why it is so important to closely monitor the long-term neurological consequences that can exist after a Covid 19 infection,” said study leader Sven Wellmann from Rzteblatt.
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