WARNING! Researchers Say That A Host Of Neuropsychiatric Problems May Emerge In COVID-19 Recovered Patients Or In Those That Are Asymptomatic
Source: COVID-19 Updates Apr 15, 2020 4 years, 8 months, 6 days, 21 hours, 31 minutes ago
COVID-19 Updates: Medical researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine are warning that in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic or even currently in recovered patients and also those that are asymptomatic, a host of neuropsychiatric challenges may emerge and healthcare professionals need to pay careful attention to these.
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Their research findings were published in the journal Brain, Behavior, Immunity.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915912030489X?via%3Dihub
Dr Emily A Troyer, a Professor from the Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, told
Thailand Medical News, "Past pandemics have demonstrated that diverse types of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as encephalopathy, mood changes, psychosis, neuromuscular dysfunction or demyelinating processes, may accompany acute viral infection, or may follow infection by weeks, months, or longer in recovered patients."
Senior author Dr Suzi Hong, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine further added, "Our article seeks to bring the medical community's attention to the need for monitoring and investigations to mitigate such outcomes, not to cause panic among individuals whose lives are already greatly affected by this pandemic."
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Typically encephalopathy is a broad term for any insult that alters brain function or structure, and therefore one's mental status. Demyelination is loss of the protective myelin sheathing of nerve cells, resulting in neurological problems.
Furthermore COVID-19 is a significant psychological stressor, both for individuals and communities. There are fears of illness, death and uncertainty of the future. This pandemic is a potential source of direct and vicarious traumatization for everyone.
However less attention, according to co-author Dr Jordan Kohn, Ph.D., also from Department of Psychiatry, University of California, has been focused on the impact the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus itself may have on the human central nervous system (CNS) and related neuropsychiatric outcomes.
The researchers noted that studies of past respiratory viral pandemics indicate diverse types of neuropsychiatric symptoms can arise, including increased incidence of insomnia, anxiety, depression, mania, suicidality, and delirium, which followed influenza pandemics in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Dr Hong stressed, "Encephalitis lethargica is an inflammatory disorder of t
he CNS marked by hypersomnolence (abnormal sleepiness), psychosis, catatonia, and Parkinsonism. Incidence increased around the time of the 1918 pandemic."
It was also observed that during more recent viral outbreaks, such as SARS-CoV-1 in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, and MERS-CoV in 2012, there were subsequent reports of higher rates of narcolepsy, seizures, encephalitis (brain inflammation), Guillain-Barre syndrome and other neuromuscular and demyelinating conditions.
Dr Hong warned, "Reports are already surfacing of acute CNS-associated symptoms in individuals affected by COVID-19, including greater stroke incidence in severely infected patients in Wuhan, China, along with delirium and loss of smell and taste senses.
Recently, a survey of UC San Diego Health patients treated for COVID-19, published April 12, 2020 issue of
International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, described the first empirical findings strongly associating sensory loss with COVID-19. The loss was temporary, said the authors, with taste and smell returning within two to four weeks of infection.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/alr.22579
The researchers say the neuropsychiatric consequences of the current novel coronavirus pandemic are not yet known, but likely will be significant and last for years. They said emerging evidence suggests the biomedical community should begin monitoring for symptoms of neuropsychiatric conditions and the neuroimmune status of persons exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Dr Hong added, "We will need to do this at different points in their lives, for years to come, to fully appreciate this pandemic's effects on neuropsychiatric outcomes for differing age groups, and how to better prepare for pandemics to come."
Thailand Medical News had already warned about the SARS-CoV-2 ability to affect the nervous system since early March.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-coronavirus-can-also-attack-the-nervous-system,-causing-neurological-conditions-and-even-viral-encephalitis
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