Brain's frontal lobes electrical activity may be disrupted by COVID-19 infection
It's all about those EEGs and COVID-19 brain biz!--
A darn good number of studies show that patients who kick it with the coronavirus and have neurological symptoms got some brain abnormalities on their EEG tests. Now, these brain issues can be pretty common among patients with severe COVID-19, with around 15-25% of those high-risk individuals kicking up some neurological symptoms such as headaches, confusion, impaired consciousness, seizures, or strokes.
You might be wondering, what in tarnation is an EEG test? Well, it's a test where they stick a bunch of electrodes all over your scalp to keep tabs on your old noggin's electrical activity.
Scientific scoundrels from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and the University of Pittsburgh took a mighty fine look at EEG test results gathered from a whopping 617 patients across 84 studies. The majority of these patients were dudes in their sixties experiencing some severe COVID-19 action.
One significant finding these brilliant boffins made was that over a third of these patients had some weird stuff going on up front in their brain, specifically in the frontal lobes. This could be a clue, as the most likely entry point for this virus is the nose, and the frontal lobes are right by that area.
Now, you might be thinking that the virus is a murdering bastard causing all this brain damage. But these madcap scientists say otherwise. They reckon that systemic effects of the virus, like inflammation, low oxygen levels, sticky blood, and even heart attacks, might be the real culprits behind these EEG abnormalities, not just those pesky viruses themselves.
But wait, there's more! These researchers also discovered "diffuse slowing" in the background electrical activity of almost 70% of the patients' brains.
People who've recovered from COVID-19 but still have ongoing issues have been labeled with "long COVID." One of these issues is "brain fog." A recent study found that those who claim to have had COVID did worse on an online cognitive test than those who didn't believe they had the virus at all. The researchers suggested that the infection might have aged people's brains by a decade!
Dr. Zulfi Haneef, assistant professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, said these findings suggest there might be long-term brain issues, and these concerns are backed up by the discovery of EEG abnormalities associated with neurological symptoms of COVID-19.
However, let's be fair; this was a pretty preliminary study. It still needs a good peer-review and some more in-depth research. But no doubt we'll be hearing more about it soon!
So, there you have it! EEGs and COVID-19: a match made in scientific hell...uh, I mean, heaven! Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting research!
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- Despite the coronavirus primarily being known for respiratory issues, recent studies have also linked it to neurological disorders, such as epilepsy seizures, and other health-and-wellness concerns, including brain abnormalities detected through EEG tests.
- Notably, these EEG studies reveal that medical-conditions like confusion, headaches, strokes, and even seizures may afflict 15-25% of high-risk COVID-19 patients, which could indicate various neurological disorders, including epilepsy seizures.
- Following extensive research on EEG test results from 617 COVID-19 patients, leading scientists have discovered that a significant number of patients experience abnormalities in their brain activity, particularly in the frontal lobes, raising concerns about long-term health-and-wellness effects, such as neurological disorders and epilepsy seizures.
