Thread by @WesElyMD

1/🧵 #COVID Brain Changes Show Parallels w Alzheimer's Disease
 
Findings may point to potential mechanism for #brainfog in people with #longCOVID

bit.ly/3J8gArA

2/ Brains of COVID-19 patients had some of the same pathological changes seen in Alzheimer's disease, which may explain the memory problems people with long COVID experience....

bit.ly/3sr1S8p

3/ The study...linked the inflammatory response found in SARS-CoV-2 infection with pathways causing tau hyperphosphorylation typically associated with #Alzheimers. The data also indicated a role for leaky ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) in the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

4/ "The study shows that long COVID-19 brain fog may be a form of Alzheimer's disease, but much more research needs to be done before we can make more definitive conclusions," Marks told MedPage.

5/ "The major strength of the paper is that they identified abnormalities in several molecules which help characterize the neuroglial dysfunction in these patients at a biochemical level," noted Avindra Nath, MD, of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

6/ Persistent brain fog and cardiac symptoms in people with COVID-19 led Marks and co-authors to investigate how ryanodine receptors were affected in COVID-19. "What we found is really, I think, quite unexpected," Marks said.

7/fin
We @CIBScenter & many others around the world are studying these 🧠 changes as well. We are beyond grateful for the priceless gift of brain donation from patients who tell us, “once I’m gone, if this can help others, I will feel like I contributed to #pandemic solutions.”