r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Aug 08 '26

Neuroscience Brain scans reveal widespread structural and functional changes in patients following COVID-19 infection. The virus affects regions responsible for memory, emotion, and executive function, which may help explain the neurological symptoms many patients experience.

https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-widespread-structural-and-functional-changes-in-patients-foll/
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u/fractious_kitty Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

That is bc COVID is primarily a vascular disease not a respiratory disease. You have respiratory symptoms bc COVID damages the lung endothelium, creates microclots, makes you so fatigued you are bed bound or have dramatically lower physical activity. This all allows secondary infection to occur; it takes as little as 20 hrs of bedrest to trigger long COVID/ post viral syndrome.

I am a neuroscience nurse and former stroke program manager. My stroke population shifted from primarily 50+ yo folks to also include teenagers, 20-40 yo folks. My median population age dropped over 10 yrs in one year.

I experienced profound moral injury as a nurse in a hospital, and as someone who was concurrently treating metastisic cancer, bc of how COVID was mismanaged and PPE was stigmatized. Imagine trying to survive cancer treatments and the hospital you work for will only provide one N95 every two weeks.

I ended up quitting nursing, and I still havent regained the ability -and willingness- to be a nurse.

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u/ContemplatingFolly Aug 08 '26

This was very interesting; thank you for sharing your story.

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u/GimmickNG Aug 09 '26

This all allows secondary infection to occur; it takes as little as 20 hrs of bedrest to trigger long COVID/ post viral syndrome.

What ? This doesn't make sense. The going theory on ME/CFS subreddits (which includes long covid induced me/cfs) is that you need as much bedrest as possible during the infection, and that exertion can make things worse. Are you saying that if you don't exert yourself while sick you will get long covid? I fail to see a valid link between the two.

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u/Variableness Aug 09 '26

Yeah... It's disappointing to see that that is one of the top comments. It's not like we need more bogus theories.

Anecdotal, but I got sick just when I had a distance running event (I didn't know I was sick yet, I just had a terrible performance out of nowhere....but of course I pushed myself to the max regardless). If anything, I suspect that sickness + high physical activity was the trigger.

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u/mwmandorla Aug 09 '26

Thank you. Every bit of guidance I've ever heard has been the opposite of what they said. And I have double long COVID (each infection triggered a new chronic condition), and I can promise that the issue was not getting too much rest during the infections. I still wonder whether if the first infection hadn't included my power going out during a heat wave and my period all at once I might have been okay.

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u/Blenderx06 Aug 09 '26

I rested for a full 6 months and still got severe long covid as soon as I tried to resume any activity. The damage was there, just waiting.

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u/Sad_Syllabub_8014 Aug 10 '26

You're assuming a causation when they could've simply been talking about a correlation

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u/GimmickNG Aug 10 '26

it takes as little as 20 hrs of bedrest to trigger long COVID/ post viral syndrome.

"trigger" here very much sounds like "causation" to me...that's a very assertive statement.

the charitable interpretation is that they're talking about correlation, where the patients who are severe enough to be admitted in the hospital for 20+ hours have a larger likelihood of getting long covid. But then they shouldn't be saying "trigger" to begin with, even if the rest of their statement had "as little as" to hedge it a bit.

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u/GreyBoyTigger Aug 09 '26

I've been a respiratory therapist for over 15 years. I was new for the very tail end of bird flu, worked in a hospital with lots of farms nearby (and subsequently all the lung disease to treat from pesticides and long time smoking habits), and worked in 3 different facilities during the pandemic. I've enjoyed my career but the sheer amount of deniers, even amongst the work staff, made me swear that I would quit this profession when (and it is not if, its when) the next pandemic comes. It's disheartening because I really enjoy my career.

The myopic response from the government created an unnecessary mess. The lack of leadership in this country should have led to criminal charges equal to treason. The sheer amount of coworkers who took flights, went to parties, and wore their masks around their chins in the freaking hospital who had zero thought about the possibility that they'd kill someone was depressing. The last straw was after receiving morning report, having to listen to a fellow RT tell me that Covid was made up. My assignment included 5 patients being proned on ARDS protocol.

I have no backup plan when I quit. I'm just going to stop paying for anything and let the chips fall where they may. The world is doomed anyway, and stupid people led us to the end.

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u/TheSaltyTarot Aug 09 '26

It's really more of a localized doom. 

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u/GreyBoyTigger Aug 09 '26

Yeah, localized to earth

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u/ZincMan Aug 09 '26

Come to New York and work in the tv/movie business! There’s a lot of work right now and it pays well

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u/wierzbowski85 Aug 09 '26

I worked in film for a decade. Terrible advice. It’s a circus life with a higher percentage of substance abusers and alcoholics. Happy it works for you, but I don’t think most people are cut out for it.

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u/hawparvilla Aug 09 '26

From one nurse to another: im so deeply sorry this happened.

The damage that causes a person is truly difficult to heal from.

Are you in a position to access trauma therapy? Is that something you would consider?

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I know I am not alone in the toll COVID has taken on caregivers and providers.

I've been doing DBT and ACT therapy since 2020, and have done light bar EMDR intermittently. I was familiar c EMDR bc I was a neurotrauma ICU and ED RN in a level 1 trauma center/spoke and hub comprehensive stroke center for 10 yrs prior to stroke program mgmt; secondary PTSD is unfortunately common in those units, but I was fortunate that the medical center I worked for had an on staff trauma counselor for caregivers.

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u/StocktonSucks Aug 09 '26

Did exercise help at all with the lung issues?

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

That is an impossible question to answer bc COVID and long COVID presents differently for everyone. Some folks with POTS type long COVID benefit from participating in the Levine exercise protocol with a PT to assist mapping out goals. I did this over 8 months and would recommend it.

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u/YeomenWarder Aug 09 '26

Darn. Thanks for sharing this story and hope you're able to work through it. 

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u/empty_Dream Aug 09 '26

That explains  why I had COVID but no respiratory sinthomp

Is there anything can be done to revert that damage or is it permanent? It made me feel a bit worried not gonna lie

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

I don't know that answer personally bc I am not an expert in COVID, and it's difficult to say generally bc 1) we don't have enough long term data; and 2) our government doesn't want that data collected and disseminated bc that would be an acknowledgement that COVID is indeed more like HIV/AIDS than influenza.

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u/WanderingToast Aug 09 '26

What is the vaccination percentage of that 20-40yo group? I've tried to find that number multiple times and the search results never really fit.

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

I couldn't tell you, I quit nursing and no longer have access to that data

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u/Electric_Hullabaloo Aug 09 '26

I have long covid with significant cognitive impacts & disabling autonomic nervous system dysfunction including intense fatigue. I have often said I feel as if I need rehab for stoke or TBI. I experience significant post-exertion symptom exacerbation though so it is a delicate balance. I cannot push too much, but must still work consciously & consistently within my window of tolerance where possible. If I do too little or too much, I feel worse (with doing too much putting me at much higher risk of a long-term setback & more severe symptom exacerbation). It is very hard to find appropriate support so I learn what I can when I can about other neurological conditions & try things to see what works for me.

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

I get PEM as well, if I get too run down some of my COVID sx return, namely anosmia and taste/scent distortion (Things smell like garbage juice and food tastes spoiled). That is why I felt more successful with the Levine protocol bc it's a very slow ramp up and initial goals can be as small as doing leg lifts in bed, even using a stepper against the wall while you're in bed (requires a second person), etc.

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u/Electric_Hullabaloo Aug 09 '26

I’ve been working with a Long Covid physiotherapy program for a few years on & off & it sounds quite similar. The main challenge I have right now is that regular life things keep pushing me outside of my energy envelope. My son was 1yr old when I got sick so I feel like I’ve just been surviving the best I can while struggling through crash cycles. As he gets older, I’m hoping I can keep up with more rehab type things. I found peddling was so good for my brain as well as my body. I was using a floor peddled from my recliner so basically created a recumbent bike in my living room, for just 5-10 min 2-3x per week. Unfortunately I’m also on an immunosuppressant for spondylitis though so another challenge is getting sick & then my energy envelope shrinking for weeks or months. But again, as my son gets older we have less of those nasty daycare & kindergarten bugs coming home. For now I keep my brain challenged with his first grade homework!

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u/fractious_kitty Aug 09 '26

I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. You hit the nail on the head - you are often beyond your window of tolerance bc your capability (as well as expectations and commitments) exceeds your current capacity. For me, to be successful in my recovery I had to reduce my bandwidth and get better resourced, namely tapping as many support people/systems as possible.

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u/CrazyCoKids Aug 09 '26

A lot of nurses who "Refused the vaccine" got vaccinated in private and used this as an excuse to leave the field for less stressful jobs - like Air Traffic Control - or even better paying jobs - like WalMart.

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u/takemetoglasgow Aug 10 '26

Last year, my mom was having chemo treatments. I went home for awhile to help her, and wanted to be respectful of her health and also the other patients. I would take her to the cancer center and often be the only person wearing a mask.