What should you do if you feel you have troubles with thinking after a COVID infection? First, take care of yourself. And with each test, we are contributing to a growing database that helps describe brain fog in PCS more accurately. This is important because once we know the problems, we can help patients develop specific strategies to overcome their troubles. This 25-minute test allows our team to identify specific areas of troubled thinking in patients with PCS. For example, a research study at Mayo Clinic is currently trialing a new virtual test for brain fog. We are also making progress in how brain fog is objectively described. For example, there are now studies showing that after COVID, there can be brain structure changes, explaining the dysfunction we see. And unfortunately, of all the symptoms we get to help patients with, thinking troubles are often one of the most stressful symptoms, because it causes problems with work and relationships.įortunately, we are now starting to unravel the mystery around brain fog. In fact, 45% of our patients in the COVID Activity Rehabilitation Program (CARP) report suffering from brain fog. This pattern of thinking difficulty PCS is surprisingly consistent. A common example is having troubles grocery shopping while having a conversation. Doing even simple things at the same time are much harder with PCS. Or they will listen to new information, such as driving directions, and not be able to retain the details.įinally, patients have problems with multitasking. The classic story we hear from patients is that they will go into a room to find something, and not remember what they were looking for when they get there. The next frequent problem involves short term memory. This makes communicating very difficult, which is quite frustrating, especially when suffering a medical condition. Patients often describe feeling the word they want to say is on the tip of their tongue, but they just can’t proceed. The most common complaint is trouble finding words during speech. However, if we go past the term brain fog and ask patients with PCS what specific thinking problems they have, patients describe amazingly similar troubles. That’s because brain fog is not a medical term and it does not have a set definition. Yet, if you look up the word brain fog in a medical dictionary, you won’t find any information. This came to be known as brain fog, and since then the term has become of permanent part of the PCS discussion. In the early days of the pandemic, patients with Post COVID Syndrome (PCS) reported troubles with their thinking. C-support informs, advises and supports them in all areas of life that are affected by this complex and still unknown disease: health, psychosocial and social factors and work & income. Support for Long COVID patientsĪs mandated by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), an organisation known as C-support is working to assist COVID-19 patients suffering from long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection. For more information about the study see the page on the Long COVID Study, or sign up to participate (in Dutch). RIVM is conducting research to find out more about how many people have persistent, long-term symptoms such as shortness of breath, pain and fatigue after COVID-19. Therefore, research on Long COVID is being carried out all over the world. An optimal treatment for Long COVID has not yet been found. That number continues to decline 12 weeks or more after infection. According to an initial estimate, up to 1 in 5 people still have symptoms 4 or 5 weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. After a serious SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients sometimes still have decreased lung function for months after discharge from hospital, as well as lung abnormalities that can be observed on X-rays or lung scans. Long COVID appears to occur more frequently in women. However, even people who have not been hospitalised can experience persistent symptoms. People who were hospitalised for COVID-19 and people with an elevated BMI or asthma also appear to be more likely to have post-infection symptoms that persist for longer. There seems to be some correlation with higher ages and the symptoms that the person had in the first phase of the infection. We do not know yet exactly why some people have long-term symptoms after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Who is more at risk for developing Long COVID? Some of these symptoms may last a long time, but their severity could decrease over time. or suffer from depression or memory problems – often called ‘brain fog’.People with Long COVID may experience such symptoms as:
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