All You Need to Know about Long COVID & Your Brain - Akshita Malhotra, SMBiogen

Ever wondered how you still experienced loss of taste and smell well after days of recovering from COVID? Twenty-seven million people around the world surviving COVID are predicted to have long-term neurological consequences. Scientists around the world suggest that symptoms of COVID might take time to completely vanish, with patients' health improving over time.

A majority of COVID-19 patients suffered from silent strokes and lack of oxygen, typically affecting the white matter (brain cells controlling communication), leading to life-long incidences like Alzheimer's and Dementia.

Well, this is what Long COVID caters to - fatigue, headache, and brain fog, and that too, life-long. There have also been instances wherein patients in India and the world have had their brains impacted with memory impairment and decreased concentration and are still trying to recover from it.

While brain fog is quite common as a lifestyle disease, it has been a prevalent Long COVID symptom in young adults and the elderly. Some symptoms of this disease include cognitive fatigue, lack of correct judgment, memory function impairment, problems with planning, etc.

Physicians across the globe suggest treating these Long COVID symptoms on a case-by-case basis and through trial and error. There have also been studies reflecting that an amalgamation of factors such as the direct effects of the virus, systemic inflammation, strokes, and damage to bodily organs can lead to chronic, life-long ailments.

On a positive note, other research suggests that these symptoms might be mild, yet real, surfacing around subtle cognitive, behavioral, and psychological changes. Long COVID has impacted each of us in one way or another.