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Evidence tying COVID-19 to a wide range of neurological effects continues to grow. And now, a new animal study suggests the virus is capable of directly invading the brain. The effects could be serious, leading to brain fog and something researchers call “COVID dementia.”
The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience this week, was conducted in mice, so it is highly preliminary. More research needs to be conducted ― including examinations in humans ― before scientists can definitively say this is the case.
But researchers believe the study offers strong evidence that the S1 “spike” protein that studs the SARS-CoV-2 virus is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, the semi-permeable separation that, among other functions, protects the brain from foreign substances.
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Research shows that people affected with COVID-19 suffer from cognitive effects
More and more evidence is coming out that people with COVID-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue.
And researchers are discovering why. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, like many viruses before it, is bad news for the brain. In a study published Dec.16 in
Nature Neuroscience, researchers found that the spike protein, often depicted as the red arms of the virus, can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice.
This strongly suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, can enter the brain.
The spike protein, often called the S1 protein, dictates which cells the virus can enter. Usually, the virus does the same thing as its binding protein, said lead author William A. Banks, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Healthcare System physician and researcher. Banks said binding proteins like S1 usually by themselves
Insurance status doesnât alter trauma care outcome in Ghana
Being enrolled in the national health insurance plan reduced catastrophic expenditures by 70% but did not eliminate significant out-of-pocket costs, study finds.
Newswise Trauma, which worldwide accounts for more than 5 million deaths per year, is a major cause of death in low- and middle-income countries. It has been estimated that improved trauma care could prevent as many as 2 million of those deaths. A key element of reducing trauma-related deaths is making sure injured patients, who need surgery, get to the operating room in a timely manner.
In a new study, a team of Ghanaian and U.S. researchers examined whether having insurance affected trauma patients’ out-of-pocket costs and their chances to get timely surgical care after being admitted to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a large teaching hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, a city of 3.3 million.