COVID-19 can affect the brain long after infection

Plus more health news |

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Scientists are just beginning to understand COVID-19's effect on the brain By Jamie Ducharme Health Correspondent After three years of covering Long COVID, I remain fascinated—and terrified—by the range of effects the SARS-CoV-2 virus can have on the brain. It's been linked to everything from brain fog to dementia to strokes, and even relatively mild cases can have profound effects. I wanted to know how one virus can cause this huge range of neurocognitive issues. And I’m not alone: leading researchers are also still trying to answer that question. The central debate is whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus directly infects the brain, or sets off a cascade of immune effects that lead to symptoms. There’s evidence to support both theories—and it’s possible that both are happening at once, experts told me. There may not be a single fix to this wide range of problems, but the scientists I interviewed said they’re optimistic that solutions are out there. “The brain is incredibly neuroplastic,” Vanderbilt’s Dr. Wes Ely says, “and it can do amazing things.” READ MORE Share This Story

What Else to Read Column: Why America Finally Needs to Embrace the Roundabout By Daniel Knowles America will be going around in circles on road safety until it adopts more traffic circles aka roundabouts Read More » Arrests Have Been Made in a Human Remains Trade Tied to Harvard Medical School. Here’s What to Know By DYLAN LOVAN / AP Medical schools like Harvard receive donated bodies after a person chooses to offer their remains upon death. Read More » Birdwatching Has Big Mental-Health Benefits. Here's How to Start By Angela Haupt Research suggests that seeing—and even just hearing—birds can relieve stress. Read More » Is Breakfast Really Good For You? By Jamie Ducharme Here's what the science says. (Originally published in 2019.) Read More » These Factors Increase the Risk of Kidney Cancer By Markham Heid Hypertension, obesity, hereditary risk factors, and chemical exposures can all play a role. Read More »

ONE MORE READ FROM ELSEWHERE Why mosquitoes pick on some people more than others If you're one of those people who leaves every summer sojourn outdoors with the same souvenirs—a smattering of red, itchy mosquito bites, you're not alone. As this video from the American Chemical Society explains, it turns out there are scientific—or actually chemical—reasons why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.   Read More »

If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here. Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and Alice Park, and edited by Oliver Staley.

Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters. Subscribe to TIME

TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice.   Connect with TIME via Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters       UNSUBSCRIBE     PRIVACY POLICY     YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS   TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508   Questions? Contact health@time.com   Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.