Brain fog and other long COVID symptoms that can last more than a year, according to a new study

“Covid is probably the most serious respiratory illness we’ve ever had, so it’s not surprising that we’re seeing lasting effects from it,” said Dr. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health, who was not involved in the new study.

He explained that persistent symptoms in COVID patients could be the result of damage caused by the body’s inflammatory response to the coronavirus. Any viral infection triggers inflammatory cells throughout the body, including in the brain. Inflammation is meant to attack the invading virus, but it also damages brain cells and neurons in the process. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, causes a particularly strong inflammatory response.

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