What exactly is “brain fog?” According to CRConsumerReports/On Health, this kind of mental fog has become a common symptom of long COVID which is “the complex condition that sometimes emerges after a case of COVID-19.” It is “characterized by difficulty focusing, sluggish thinking, and memory lapses.” Brain fog also can be seen in other conditions: chronic insomnia, cancer therapies, drug side effects, head injuries, strokes, and depression as in a form of mental cloudiness. Difficult to treat, physicians tell us that they may be able to treat some of the conditions that cause it.
Patients with brain fog describe it as the inability of feeling “as mentally sharp.” Dr. Zaldy Tan is the director of the Family Memory and Healthy Aging Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Tan says, “People may report problems multi-tasking, articulating words, or finding things around the house.” It differs from cognitive changes (intellectual thinking) that occur more slowly with the aging process. In brain fog, the failure to retrieve information can come on very quickly and is often linked to a particular event such as COVID-19 or a head injury. While it is distinct from progressive dementia, factors associated with aging, such as taking multiple pills, can increase the risk of getting the malady.
It has become difficult to look for the exact biological causes of brain fog. Dr. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia believes that “Damage to the small blood vessels around the brain could potentially play a role – in many cases, stress or anxiety could exacerbate symptoms.” Other experts think that “inflammation lingering in the brain after COVID-19 or head trauma” could be at blame.
Dr. Diaz-Arrastia informs us that the possible solution to the condition will be dependent upon the exact nature of the brain fog and how it is affecting the person’s everyday life. An initial visit to a doctor’s office will probably lead to a visit to a neuropsychologist for a more intense assessment overview of “identifying cognitive strengths that can compensate for impairments.”
Dr. Tan gives us the following 5 items to aid the impaired brain fogged individual:
1. Cut back on alcohol and limit your meds (especially drugs with side-effects of mental fogginess). Do, however, ask your health expert before stopping any meds.
2. Improve your sleep. People with sleep problems can experience brain fog continually.
3. Exercise with aerobic exercise proven to help clear mental fogginess. However, exercising solo with severe brain fog (which can exacerbate long COVID symptoms) should be done only with the help of a physical therapist.
4. Reduce your cognitive load and put less stress on your memory. Rely on lists and try to avoid multitasking until you feel stronger.
5. Address mental health. With depression, people can develop brain fog affecting memory and lasting for months or years. Dr. Tan concludes here “Therapy or antidepressants may help ease brain fog, as well as other symptoms.”
