COVID-19 Is there a wave of neuropsychiatric problems triggered by the pandemic?

Online Posts in the Journal, April 13, 2020 Brain, behavior, immunityA group of three researchers at the University of California, San Diego Medical School found that many neuropsychiatric challenges could remain or emerge after a new coronavirus outbreak for those recovering from COVID-19 infections. Suggest that there is.

“ Past outbreaks have lasted weeks or weeks in patients with different types of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as encephalopathy, mood changes, psychosis, neuromuscular dysfunction or demyelination processes, who have or have resolved an acute viral infection. It has been demonstrated to last for months or longer, “the author warns.

“Our article Medical communityAttention to the need for surveillance and investigations to mitigate such consequences, not to cause panic among individuals already impacted by this Pandemic“

Encephalopathy is a general term for any seizure that alters the function or structure of the brain, and thus the mental state. Demyelination is the loss of the protective myelin sheath of nerve cells, causing neurological problems.

“COVID-19 is an important psychological stressor for individuals and communities,” said Dr. Suzi Hong, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego. “There are fears of illness, death, and uncertainty in the future. This pandemic is a potential cause of direct and surrogate trauma for everyone.”

However, with less attention, Hong and co-authors Dr. Emily Troyer and Dr. Jordan Kohn argued that the virus itself could have a potential impact on the human central nervous system (CNS) and related neuropsychiatric outcomes. Focus on. The authors found that previous studies of respiratory virus pandemics were followed by influenza pandemics of the 18th and 19th centuries, followed by various types of insomnia, anxiety, depression, mania, suicidal tendencies, and increased incidence of delirium. Pointed out that the neuropsychiatric symptoms of can occur.

“Drowsiness encephalitis is an inflammatory disease of the CNS characterized by somnolence (abnormal sleepiness), psychosis, catatonia, and Parkinsonism. The incidence increased during the 1918 pandemic,” the authors write. It was

During recent outbreaks of viruses such as SARS-CoV-1 in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, and MERS-CoV in 2012, narcolepsy, seizures, encephalitis (encephalitis), Guillain-Barre syndrome and other neuromuscular and Demyelinated.

“Reports of acute CNS-related symptoms in individuals affected by COVID-19 have already surfaced,” said Hong, including delirium, loss of olfaction and taste, as well as increased stroke incidence in severely infected patients in Wuhan, China. Stated. (Survey of healthy patients in UC San Diego treated with COVID-19 published April 12, 2020) International Forum on Allergy and Rhinology, Described the first empirical finding that strongly associated sensory loss with COVID-19. The losses were temporary and the taste and smell returned within 2-4 weeks of infection, the authors said.

Hong, Troyer, and Kohn say the psychological effects of the current new coronavirus pandemic are unknown, but probably significant and lasting several years. They provide new evidence to suggest that the biomedical community should begin to monitor the neuroimmune status of people exposed to neuropsychiatric symptoms and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Announced.

“We need to do this at different points in their lives over the next few years. This is a good understanding of the impact of this pandemic on neuropsychiatric outcomes of different age groups, Is a way to prepare for the outbreak, “said Hong.