Coronavirus: Can an eye test diagnose long COVID? Here's what studies have found

1 in 4 people can be COVID long haulers

Long COVID or post-COVID syndrome is the biggest battle post-recovery that seems to ail people who have fought the virus. If statistics are to go by, 1 in 4 COVID survivors could actually be long-haulers and with the scary surges seen during the second wave, doctors presume that the numbers might only go rise a lot more.

A test may be able to diagnose long COVID

With no accurate test or ways to find out, a lot of people remain unaware, and fight their battles and lingering symptoms silently. However, while scientists continue to delve into the baffling phenomenon and what makes long COVID-19 so severe, newer studies have indicated that COVID patients, who might be at risk of long COVID-19 could be diagnosed via a simple eye test.

Not only is the research promising, but it could also help many dealing with lingering symptoms seek help at the right time, and recover.

What have the studies found?

As per newer clinical studies, a simple eye test could perhaps hold the key to detecting long COVID amongst coronavirus survivors.

While COVID-19 patients are often asked to undergo routine tests and scan weeks during, and post their recovery to determine the state of their vital health, medical experts opine that getting a closer look at a survivor's eye could point out key parameters such as an increase in immune cells and nerve fibre loss, which can help identify the potential damage caused by the virus.

For the same, the study, which has been published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology was conducted on 40 people who had recovered from COVID-19 and quizzed on the state of their lingering symptoms, on a score of to 28.

Findings revealed that 22 out of the 40 patients showcased neurological symptoms post-recovery, such as headaches, loss of smell, numbness, dizziness, which were all associated with nerve fibre loss. Since other symptoms of long COVID-19 cannot be explained via the alternate diagnosis, experts believe that measuring nervous changes and picking up these inflammatory changes could hold the key to determining the risk of long COVID in an individual.

The nerve fibre damage and density of dendritic cells, picked up via corneal scans also play a crucial role in primary immune system response.

When the symptoms of recovered COVID-19 patients were put to comparison with non-COVID patients suffering from some form of neurological damage, it was observed that the ones who had recovered from COVID or continued to have lingering symptoms had greater corneal nerve damage than the ones who haven't been infected. 

How will this help?

To date, there's no accurate measure to determine if an individual is suffering from long COVID-19. While there are some risks and symptoms which can provide clues to the actual illness risk, scientists believe a test like this, if ordered could potentially help identify people in need and offer rehabilitative care to the right degree. By checking for a loss in nerve fibres and immune cell detection in the corneas, doctors may be able to assess one's risk of long COVID and post-COVID complications more accurately.

Secondly, seeing the magnitude of damage long COVID could cause for some, and the confusing nature of symptoms that could strike (studies suggest there could be over 200 such symptoms), doctors advise patients to go for preemptive screenings, and even psychiatric evaluations to determine risk and feel better. Having such a test in place could make matters easier, and help those in critical need seek proper care.

How else could you determine if you are a COVID long hauler?

While there's research still being done on the efficacy and promise of the eye tests and larger studies needed to confirm the findings, certain factors such as the number of symptoms one has in the first week, type and severity of infection, age, hospitalization could determine if one is vulnerable to post-COVID-syndrome.

While lingering COVID-19 symptoms and neurological symptoms are typically associated with long COVID-19, the symptoms, by and large, could be different for everyone. The most common symptoms of long COVID are:

-Recurring infections

-Persisting cough and changes in voice

-Fatigue

-Malaise

-Body aches and myalgia

-Brain fog

-Altered smell and taste

-Stress

-Insomnia

-Breathing difficulties

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Study fnds mechanism to heal injured nerve fibres

Researchers found new mechanisms that enable the regeneration of nerve fibers, which could open up new treatment approaches for the brain, optic nerve and spinal cord injuries.

The brain, spinal cord and optic nerves are referred to collectively as the central nervous system. The nerve fibers called axons are unable to grow back following injury meaning that damage is permanent.

It is possible to partially restore the regenerative capacity of nerve cells in the central nervous system by eliminating the inhibiting protein PTEN. However, a knockout of this kind also triggers many different reactions in the cells at the same time, which often lead to cancer, explained a Prof.

As a result, the direct inhibition of this protein is not suitable for therapeutic approaches in humans. What's more, the originally postulated mechanism underlying the renewed regenerative capacity following PTEN knockout could not be confirmed in further studies, causing the researchers to seek alternative explanations.

While investigating this as-yet unclear mechanism, the researchers were able to show for the 1st time that PTEN knockout significantly inhibits an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase 3, GSK3 for short.

This enzyme, in turn, blocked another protein called collapsin response mediator protein 2, CRMP2.
this meant that the PTEN knockout prevents CRMP2 from being inhibited by GSK3.

If we directly prevent this 2nd step, i.e., stop the inhibition of CRMP2, we can also achieven the regeneration-promoting effect in a more specific manner, explained the researcher.

The activation of CRMP2 itself is not known to have any carcinogenic effect.

Although we have so far only shown these effects in genetically modified mice using gene therapy approaches, these findings open up various possibilities for the development of new drug approaches, explained the neuropharmacologist.

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