Does Covid-related stress impact mental health of uninfected people? Experts think so
Covid impact on mental health: Whether or not a person has ever been infected with the SARS-Cov-2 virus, one thing is certain that it had a negative impact on everybody's mental health.
According to new research, societal and lifestyle disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic may have triggered inflammation in the brain that can affect mental health in some people, even those who escaped becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.
The research was published in the journal 'Brain, Behavior, and Immunity' by a team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant social and economic upheavals that have impacted the lives of a large swath of the world's population in many ways, in addition to infections and deaths of a startling number of people.
Moreover, since the beginning of the pandemic, the severity and prevalence of psychological distress, fatigue, brain fog and other conditions have grown significantly in the United States, including among people who have not been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Researchers analysed brain imaging data, conducted behavioural tests, and collected blood samples from multiple uninfected volunteers, 57 before and 15 after lockdown/stay-at-home measures were implemented to limit the pandemic's spread to gain a better understanding of the effects of the pandemic on the brain and mental health.
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After lockdowns, the study participants showed elevated brain levels of two markers of neuroinflammation - translocator protein (measured using positron emission tomography) and myoinositol (measured using magnetic resonance spectroscopy), when compared with pre-lockdown participants. Blood levels of two inflammatory markers -- interleukin-16 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 -- were similarly higher in post-lockdown participants, although to a lesser extent.
Participants who reported higher symptoms related to mood and mental and physical fatigue demonstrated higher levels of translocator protein in certain brain regions in comparison with those showing little or no symptoms. Furthermore, increased amounts of post-lockdown translocator protein were linked to the expression of numerous immune-related genes.
"Our study demonstrates an example of how the pandemic has impacted human health beyond the effects directly caused by the virus itself," says lead author Ludovica Brusaferri, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at MGH and Harvard Medical School.
The team of researchers also noted that acknowledging the role of neuroinflammation in the symptoms experienced by many during the pandemic might point to possible strategies to reduce them. "For instance, behavioural or pharmacological interventions that are thought to reduce inflammation -- such as exercise and certain medications -- might turn out to be helpful as a means of reducing these vexing symptoms."
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-PTC News
