COVID Triggers Neurological Issues via Gut-Brain Pathway
A study that paves the path for a treatment suggests that Covid may set off intricate biochemical processes from the gut to the brain, resulting in permanent neurological problems in some individuals.
According to a study published in the journal Cell on Monday by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, persistent inflammation caused by viral remnants in the gastrointestinal tracts of a subgroup of long-term Covid patients may disrupt a critical chemical messenger involved in nerve activation, brain function, and memory.
They claimed that the results explain why long-term COVID patients have trouble concentrating, remembering things, and exhibiting other neurocognitive symptoms. Significantly, their research revealed Prozac and other medications that increase serotonin levels as potential subjects for additional investigation.
Long Covid, an umbrella phrase for the frequently crippling health issues thought to affect 10% or more of persons who have had Covid-19, has been linked to more than 200 symptoms. Some typical symptoms “may converge on common pathways,” according to the current research, according to co-author Christoph Thaiss, an assistant professor of microbiology at the Philadelphia-based Penn Institute for Immunology.
Although serotonin is most commonly linked to mood and mental health, the researchers’ goal in identifying the causes of prolonged COVID was to focus on something else. Thaiss et al. discovered that prolonged inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, which they attribute to a continuous viral reservoir, disrupts neurotransmitter levels in circulation through many mechanisms, such as aberrant blood coagulation.
Unifying Framework
The etiology of serotonin exhaustion and its resulting impacts were deciphered using lab exploration and partner studies. The particle’s consequences for the vagus nerve, which innervates inside organs and is accepted to enact neurons in the hippocampus, a piece of the cerebrum engaged with learning, memory, and cognizance, were the specialists’ fundamental concentration.
“The fact that we see dysregulation of serotonin in some individuals with long-term COVID can potentially explain why there’s such a broad spectrum of symptoms,” according to Thaiss, ranging from mood disorders and cognitive fog to sleep issues and stomach trouble.
Also Read: World Food Day 2023: Promoting Food and Water as a Fundamental Right
Many long-term Covid investigations have shown low serotonin, he added, including people with distinct but related symptoms.
Follow Digital Fox Media for latest lifestyle news.
The post Long COVID Study Reveals Gut-to-Brain Disruption Linked to Lingering Virus appeared first on Daily News.
