During Brain Awareness Week, we look at the impact of COVID-19 on brain health—and what it means for health inequity.
Not much is known yet about the neurological effects of “long COVID” aside from the well-documented “brain fog” that can last for months—but neurologists are also “seeing many cases of ‘dysautonomia,’ or impaired regulation of the nervous system that controls heart rate and blood pressure—the ‘fight or flight’ part of the nervous system,” writes Mount Sinai neurologist Allison Navis.
“There is strong evidence for brain-related abnormalities in COVID-19,”found scientists in the UK, including “greater reduction in grey matter thickness,” greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions functionally-connected to the primary olfactory cortex,” and even reduction in brain size.
Brain health is already an example of health inequity: “Neurological conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are leading causes of disability and premature death, afflicting women, people of color and low-income communities at much higher rates than average,” says a new report from BIO member Biogen.
COVID stands to make that disparity deeper, with people of color more likely to die from COVID-19, as we’ve reported.
But the lack of diversity in neurology presents a challenge, with “about 30% of neurology faculty at teaching hospitals in the U.S. identify as women, 3% Hispanic or Latinx, 2% Black or African American, and less than 1% identify as Native or Indigenous,” says Biogen.
Biogen and Massachusetts General developed the MGH Youth Neurology Education and Research Program, “to advance health equity and scientific innovation by building a diverse pipeline of future neuroscientists and neurologists with strong leadership skills.”
It's Brain Awareness Week (March 14-20), founded by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (DABI) and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB) and coordinated by the Dana Foundation with the goal of educating people about brain health and sparking the interests of students in pursuing careers in neurology—learn more at www.brainawareness.org.
More News:
BIO: Statement on Russia’s decision to legalize patent theft
“Retaliation of this kind will only serve to isolate Russian science and technology from the international mainstream. At the end of the day those who will be most hurt by this decision will not be innovative global companies, but Russian patients, scientists, and consumers.”
The Intercept: Peter Daszak answers critics and defends coronavirus research
“'Scientists disagree over an issue where there’s no definitive proof,' said the EcoHealth Alliance president on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic."
