Brain Fog—COVID-19: A New Covid symptom

Many new scientific and medical phrases have entered our everyday language as a result of the COVID pandemic. Many of us are now fluent in debates concerning virus strains, PCR testing, and mortality rates. In order to describe a now-common symptom of COVID and extended COVID, “brain fog” has entered these ranks.

Patients frequently describe their symptoms as “brain fog,” which is not a recognised medical diagnosis. Cognitive dysfunction is the term used by doctors to describe brain fog. This term describes issues with closely related tasks like language comprehension, information processing, memory, thinking, and reasoning.

An example of a brain fog patient is something like “a person placed food on the gas stove and walked away for nearly an hour, only recognising when they were burning,” which is a common description of brain fog events.

Even routine tasks like going grocery shopping become challenging when one is suffering from brain fog; finding a parking spot; recalling a list of things to buy; juggling attention between objects and prices; and reading labels may all be perplexing, demanding, and draining.

One of the most prevalent symptoms during the early stages of the COVID pandemic was brain fog. According to recent findings, three months after infection, 20–30% of people report having cognitive fog. Brain fog affects up to 85% of those with lengthy COVID. Although brain fog is frequently associated with COVID, it is a symptom that many other illnesses and disorders share.

Cause of Brain Fog

Brain fog has not been connected to changes in brain volume on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, even though COVID may cause some brain regions to shrink.

The cingulate cortex is a particular region of the brain, and it was discovered in a recent case study of two people that, despite having normal clinical MRI findings, they also had decreased oxygen usage in that region. It’s hypothesised that this region of the limbic system has a role in memory and attention.

Symptoms

According to a recent study, inconsistent results in studies on brain fog may be related to how the brain is tested when performing different tasks . People with both mild and more severe forms of COVID may have issues with verbal and general performance, reasoning, processing speed, and overall performance, but not memory. The effects of brain fog, regardless of severity, are therefore less likely to be detected in investigations that use memory tests. In short the symptoms could be

• The kind of slow, foggy ideas.
• Issues paying attention and concentrating.
• Difficulties in planning or making decisions.
• Difficulty with memory
• Mental exhaustion
• Confusion.

Diagnosis

It can be challenging to detect brain fog because there isn’t a single test for it. Formal testing may not always be beneficial because symptoms can differ for each person and some days may be worse than others, even if there are various combinations of tests that can be utilized.

Self cure

After COVID-19, there is no single, effective approach to lessen the symptoms of brain fog. However, attempting a few of the advices below may be helpful:

Plan your days: Establishing a daily schedule and setting goals for what you hope to accomplish each day may be useful.

Pace yourself and try not to exert too much effort. Take pauses whenever you need them if you’re feeling worn out or overburdened.

Get moving: You should exercise for overall health. It can improve brain function, uplift your mood, and lessen stress. Make an effort to move around regularly most days of the week.

Get adequate rest: Your health may suffer if you don’t get enough sleep. Try to establish a regular bedtime routine, and make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and at a comfortable temperature.

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