I’ll keep saying it until data suggest otherwise, but there’s growing evidence that Covid causes brain damage. Reacting to traffic signals, accurately reading signs, switching lanes to anticipate obstacles, and staying calm under stress all rely on our executive functions like inhibition control & task-switching. When these are impaired, accidents can happen. Covid causes more vehicular accidents & likely contributes to plane and train accidents as well.
So we're not sure if the virus directly attacks the brain or if the brain problems are a result of the body's overall response to the virus. Using a powerful microscope, researchers studied how this virus affects the brain in monkeys. A week after getting infected, the virus was found in a part of the monkey's brain related to smell and other connected areas. This infection caused significant brain inflammation and damage, especially in older monkeys with diabetes.
h/t @Kilian_Rolle
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Many use Zombie analogies🧟♂️ to explain aspects of viral infections from symptoms to transmission.
In the spirit of Halloween🎃, I will say that nature's eeriest "zombie-like" conditions are toxoplasma gondii (rids rodents of fear, making them easy cat prey!), CMV (can cause blindness, jaundice, purplish skin splotches, seizures, etc), & prions (Mad Cow).
While there's some truth in fiction, I believe there's another angle to consider.
The virus accelerates our aging, disrupting internal clocks. Telomeres, biological markers of aging, shorten with chronic illness and correspond with reduced lifespan.
Our collective trauma and societal pause due to the pandemic erased many temporal markers, disturbing our sense of time. Combine this with the direct (neural inflammation, cell death) and indirect (absence from life events) effects of the virus on memory.
The past few years have been a crash course in health and safety for many of us. From understanding masks and respirators to the intricacies of viruses, the amount of information has been overwhelming. /1
In 2019, I couldn't differentiate between valveless and valved masks, or all the NIOSH ratings. Grilling outside was just about avoiding smoke, not understanding the nuances of respiratory protection. /2
The pandemic brought a deep dive into vaccine mechanisms, virus structures, and their relations to other diseases like SARS and HIV. It's been a whirlwind of learning. /3
Something I learned from a well-read, highly intelligent Twitter/X contributor & science communicator:
SARS-CoV-2 is a syncytial virus - the ability to cause the fusion of neighboring infected cells, leading to the formation of multi-nucleated giant cells called syncytia. 🧵
@DonEford was the 1st to really connect the dots for me why this isn’t “just a cold.” A common cold can be caused by >200 different viruses.
Most of them are NOT syncytial (frequent culprits are rhinoviruses, which belong to the picornavirus family & do not form syncytia) /2
Other viruses like coronaviruses, adenoviruses, & parainfluenza viruses can also cause cold symptoms, & not all of these form syncytia either. /3
@jljcolorado is providing an awesome talk right now on air cleaners - I am shocked to learn that anything but HEPA, CR-Box, MERV13 and Activated Carbon filters can cause severe harm that outweighs the benefits. Simulated deaths from cleaner-caused pollution negate effects! /🧵
Also one should keep in mind that while most activated carbon filters have good underlying technology, the quality of most of these filters on the market are too weak or insufficient for a given space (check grams or may need kilograms in some cases).
Very cool to see these data on the cheap Corsi-Rosenthal 📦 @CorsIAQ !
High levels of cognitive functioning are needed for sustained health behavior engagement (adherence).
This is true of dieting, exercise, smoking cessation & alcohol abstinence. Even masking.
Should we refer to non adherents as having a “brain disease?”
IMO, no.
Time for a 🧵
🚫 🧠 disease.
It also doesn’t mean those who’ve fallen short of health behavior change (e.g., weight loss goals) are “failures,” or should be shamed.
I will argue its more akin to cognitive impairment (a temporary, malleable state), perpetuated by the habituated behavior.
Yes, there’s evidence of eventual deterioration of neurological structure & function (such as evidenced in this study among those with T2D), but there’s less decline for those w/ higher levels of education (cognitive reserve) & the 🧠 can be exercised 💪! n.neurology.org/content/92/8/e…
1/ Timing [Perception of] is everything (a thread). Future time perspective (FTP) plays an important role in our health-related decisions, behavior and belief systems. iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…
3/ Thinking of more immediate consequences of food has been associated with unhealthy eating whereas a greater orientation towards future thinking is associated with healthier eating. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…