BDI-International Magazine -SUMMER 2021

(e.g., the University of Sassari, the
University of Brescia, the University
of Cagliari) and the University of
Cincinnati in Ohio.
The researchers in the Radiology study
examined records of 725 patients that
were treated at three key locations in
Italy: the University of Sassari, the
University of Brescia, and
the University of Eastern Piedmont
in Novara. The records show that
15% of the patients were reported as
experiencing neurological symptoms
or disease. Of this group, 59% of
the patients experienced an “altered
mental state,” while 31% experienced
ischemic strokes. In this context,
altered mental state (or altered mental
status) actually encompasses several
notable neurological symptoms, such as
delirium, confusion, and coma.
The aforementioned altered mental
state and ischemic strokes were the two
most common neurological symptoms
in this study. Some less common, but
still notable, reported neurological
symptoms were headache (12%), seizures
(9%), and dizziness (4%). In addition
to this, there were apparent signs of
intracranial hemorrhaging in 6% of the
patients.
The Virus Could Be Damaging
Brain Blood Vessels
Fast forward to the start of
2021. Many scientists and
researchers are now shifting
gears to focus on the longterm
neurological effects
of the virus, particularly
in regards to the damage
it inflicts on the brain.
As of yet, numerous studies
have shown no signs of
SARS-CoV-2 in the brains
of people that are infected.
However, several scientists have
observed blood vessel damage in
the postmortem brains of individuals
that had tested positive for COVID-19.
An inflammatory response due to the
virus is thought to have caused this
blood vessel damage, and this has led to
the conclusion that the virus indirectly
attacks the brain.
Dr. Avindra Nath, senior author of
a study and clinical director of the
National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the
National Institutes of Health, stated
that they were initially not expecting to
see such blatant signs of inflammatory
damage:
“We were completely surprised.
Originally, we expected to see
damage that is caused by a
lack of oxygen. Instead, we saw
multifocal areas of damage
that are usually associated with
strokes and neuroinflammatory
diseases.”
Nevertheless, researchers are remain
unsure whether the virus had been
present in the brains at some point in
time. In fact, they are still weighing two
possibilities: the viral copy numbers
were below the level of detection, or the
virus was simply cleared by the time of
death.
Researchers are hesitant to rule out the
presence of the virus in the brain, at least
at some point. This is because like rabies
and mumps, SARS-CoV-2 is technically
a neurotropic virus and thus has the
ability to infect nerve cells.
BDI International Magazine | Page 8
BestDoctorsInsurance.com | Page 9