COVID-19 infection may increase chances of developing Parkinson’s disease
In addition, some scientists have found traces of SARS-CoV-2 in the human brain, but it is not clear whether this can cause problems such as brain fog or cognitive decline associated with COVID-19.
In a recent study by researchers from Thomas Jefferson University and New York University they looked at how SARS-CoV-2 could increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease in humans. Doctors worldwide are reportedly seeing an increase in new cases of Parkinson’s disease in the years following the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. In addition, researchers say several other viral infections are linked to an increased risk of Parkinson’s, from Japanese encephalitis to HIV.
As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic kicked off in 2020. Some scientists warn of a possible increase in neurodegenerative diseases in the years to come. Five years after the 1918 pandemic, new Parkinson’s diagnoses have tripled. Given the prevalence of COVID-19 infection. Even a slight increase in Parkinson’s cases could result in tens of millions of additional diagnoses over the next decade.
Richard Smine, the study’s first author, said the most common explanation was the “multi-stroke hypothesis.”
According to Smeyne, viral infections do not directly cause neurodegenerative diseases. But make the brain more susceptible to other risk factors that can lead to disease. The results of the new study were published in the journal Movement Disorders.
The animals were authorized to recover from the acute viral infection and then injected with a small dose of MPTP about one month later. The MPTP dose was so low that healthy control mice not exposed to SARS-CoV-2 showed no neurologic damage. However, in coronavirus-exposed animals, MPTP was sufficient to induce a basal ganglion neuronal damage pattern similar to Parkinson’s disease. In addition, animals exposed to SARS-CoV-2 were just as sensitive to MPTP damage as in previous H1N1 studies, the researchers said.
In addition, some scientists have found traces of SARS-CoV-2 in the human brain. But it is not clear whether this can cause problems such as brain fog or cognitive decline associated with COVID-19. The researchers found an increase in the volume of microglia in the basal ganglia of mice infected with the coronavirus.
“First of all, this is pre-clinical work. It is too new to tell whether we will see the same in humans. As there appears to be a 5 to 10 year lag between clinical manifestations of Parkinson’s disease in humans. If it turns out that COVID-19 increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease. It will put a strain on society and our health care system. But we can anticipate these challenges by increasing our knowledge of potential second attacks and mitigation strategies,” Smine said.
