Long COVID-19 effects, enjoy.

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<https://ktla.com/news/covid-19-patients-show-more-signs-of-brain-damage-
than-people-with-alzheimers-disease/>

<https://tinyurl.com/yckjyd2m>

COVID-19 patients show more signs of brain damage than people with
Alzheimer’s disease. by: Chris Melore, StudyFinds.org via Nexstar Media
Wire. Posted: Jan 16, 2022 / 03:18 PM PST / Updated: Jan 16, 2022 /
03:18 PM PST.

NEW YORK (StudyFinds.org) – Could COVID-19 actually be doing more harm
to the human brain than Alzheimer’s disease? A new study reveals older
patients contracting COVID have more signs of brain damage than people
who develop the neurodegenerative disease.

Specifically, a team from NYU Grossman School of Medicine found
significantly higher levels of certain blood proteins which typically
rise when someone suffers neurological damage among COVID patients.
Researchers say, over the short-term course of their infections, seven
markers of brain damage were noticeably higher among COVID patients than
non-COVID patients with Alzheimer’s. One of these markers was more than
twice as high among coronavirus patients.

“Our findings suggest that patients hospitalized for COVID-19, and
especially in those experiencing neurological symptoms during their
acute infection, may have levels of brain injury markers that are as
high as, or higher than, those seen in people who have Alzheimer’s
disease,” says lead author Jennifer Frontera, MD, a professor in the
Department of Neurology, in a university release.

Which blood markers should COVID patients worry about?
Study authors say the main sign of brain damage among the COVID patients
was the condition toxic metabolic encephalopathy (TME). Symptoms range
from confusion to coma, due to toxins created by the immune system
reacting (sepsis), the kidneys failing, and not enough oxygen in the
tissue.

The team examined 251 people hospitalized for COVID-19 during the first
few months of the pandemic in 2020. The average age of the participants
was 71 years-old, but all were in generally good health with no history
of dementia or cognitive decline before their COVID infection.
Researchers separated these patients into two groups, those with and
without neurological symptoms due to
COVID-19.https://www.youtube.com/embed/3yOjz0UJyFw?autoplay=1

From there, the team compared these individuals to a group of control
patients from the Clinical Core cohort of NYU Langone’s Alzheimer’s
Disease Research Center. This group is part of NYU’s long-term study of
dementia and included 54 healthy people, 54 with mild cognitive decline,
and 53 with Alzheimer’s disease. None of the control patients contracted
COVID-19 during the study.

When it comes to what scientists were looking for, three blood markers —
ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), total tau, and
phosphorylated-tau-181 (ptau181) — all measure the death or disruption
of neurons in the brain.

Levels of neurofilament light chain increase when the brain’s axons take
damage. These are branch-like extensions coming from the neurons. Glial
fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) levels measure the damage to glial
cells, another type of brain cell that supports the neurons. Lastly,
amyloid beta 40 and 42 are common markers which usually build up in
people with Alzheimer’s.

Results show the seven brain damage markers were over 60 percent higher
among COVID patients with TME than those without the neurological
symptoms.

Brain damage even worse among fatal COVID cases
Concerningly, study authors found the markers for brain damage were even
worse among patients that did not survive their coronavirus infection.
Markers among patients who died from COVID were 124 percent higher than
those who eventually left the hospital.

In comparison to patients with Alzheimer’s, results show markers for
neurofilament light chain were 179 percent higher among coronavirus
patients over the short-term. Levels of GFAP were also 65 percent higher
among COVID patients in comparison to those with dementia.

“Traumatic brain injury, which is also associated with increases in
these biomarkers, does not mean that a patient will develop Alzheimer’s
disease or related dementias later on, but does increase the risk of
it,” says senior author Thomas Wisniewski, MD, director of the Center
for Cognitive Neurology at NYU Langone. “Whether that kind of
relationship exists in those who survive severe COVID-19 is a question
we urgently need to answer with ongoing monitoring of these patients.”

The study is published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia®: The Journal of
the Alzheimer’s Association.

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