The deadly coronavirus has scared people throughout with its never-ending mortality rate in countries across the world. This virus, that originated in December 2019, is known to affect crucial organs in the body that can be very harmful to one’s health. The brain along with other organs like the heart, lungs can get severely affected.

With time, new researchers have found out that the brain is especially vulnerable to COVID-19. A new research study indicated that a slight or mild headache could be a neurological symptom in connection to the virus. A headache may seem normal to you because people usually have headaches after a stressful day or if something unpleasant is bothering you. However, in recent times, that maybe not be all. Your throbbing head can be a sign of a worsening COVID case.

Study reveals shocking fact about recent headaches


A study, published in the
Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology journal on October 5, included a survey conducted among 509 coronavirus patients at various Northwestern Medicine hospitals in Chicago. It was found out that nearly 38 per cent of these patients experienced headaches at some point during their COVID cases. People were more likely to face neurological symptoms during their disease course.

Igor Koralnik, the study’s co-author and MD who oversees the Neuro COVID-19 Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said, “This is the first study of its kind in the United States. There are only two other published papers describing the prevalence of neurological manifestations in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in China and Europe.”

Studies reported that nearly 82 per cent of patients suffering from coronavirus experienced neurological symptoms. 43 per cent experienced the symptoms at an early stage while 63 per cent faced the neurological symptoms during their hospital stay. Hence, these numbers indicate that headaches are one of the most common neurological COVID-19 symptoms, that can require you to immediately hospitalise. The study further stated that “Patients with neurologic manifestations experienced longer hospitalization.”

Encephalopathy and what it means for COVID patients


Encephalopathy is a general term used to emphasise on brain diseases, damage or malfunction. Researchers also concluded that encephalopathy was “associated with a worse functional outcome in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19, and may have lasting effects.” 32 per cent of hospitalised patients ended up having this altered brain function that resulted in headaches.

More than two-thirds of the patients who experienced damaged brain function were not capable of taking care of themselves even after leaving the hospital. On the other hand, 90 per cent of patients who did not develop encephalopathy did not face any problems after they were discharged from the hospital.

“Patients and clinicians need to be aware of the high frequency of neurologic manifestations of COVID-19 and the severity of altered mental function associated with this disease,” Koralnik said, to battle the ongoing risk-induced deadly virus.