GENERAL BRAIN HEALTH

1. How does COVID-19 affect the brain?

A number of studies are underway to better understand how and why COVID-19 affects the brain. Early theories so far suggest it happens in two ways. The first mechanism is severe infection that attacks the brain or spinal cord. Some cases reported in China and Japan have found genetic material from the virus in spinal fluid, and one Florida case found viral particles in brain cells. So the virus may actually enter the nose and travel to the brain, causing neurological infection.

The second theory is that the aggressive immune system response to fight the viral infection damages the body and brain. Other effects of the virus, such as fever or organ failure in worst-case scenarios, can also cause brain dysfunction. For example, the immune response damages the lining of blood cells, and blood clots are common in COVID-19 patients. Increased strokes and some neurological complications may be due to this immune system effect on the blood.

2. Are there ways to keep the brain young?
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines healthy aging as follows: Learning, growing, being active, meeting basic needs and socializing, and contributing to society. Protecting brain health is also an important part of ‘healthy aging’.
Nourishing the ‘brain’ as much as the body, benefiting from healthy fatty acids such as Omega-3, doing various exercises for the brain, and continuing to learn and produce are important elements for brain health. Indicators of our brain health are having balanced energy, being able to sleep in good quality, having a sharp memory, good mood and fast learning skills. Therefore, the better we nourish our brain, the more our quality of life increases, and we can even have a young and dynamic brain that produces new nerve cells in old age.

We can examine the answers to what is necessary for brain health under 3 basic questions:

I. Am I aging healthily?

II. Am I consuming brain-friendly foods?
III. Am I exercising my brain enough?

3. Did you know that adult brain cells can regenerate?

Contrary to our old knowledge, we now know that human brain cells can regenerate. If the neurogenesis rate is low during this regeneration process, it causes anxiety, stress and memory problems; if it is high, it increases cognitive abilities and prevents diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Increasing neurogenesis is not difficult at all. Here is what you can do to increase brain cells. Neurogenesis is the process in which new nerve cells are produced from neural networks. The productive cells in neural networks found in adults have the ability to repair the body and renew adult tissues. Therefore, neurogenesis is perhaps one of the most important biological indicators of brain health. While a low neurogenesis rate can cause anxiety, depression, stress and memory impairment problems, high neurogenesis reduces stress, anxiety and depression, and increases cognitive abilities such as faster learning and better problem solving. It prevents the development of diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Two factors that increase neurogenesis How can we increase neurogenesis? The two most important factors that have positive effects on neurogenesis are nutrition and exercise. On the other hand, factors such as physical fatigue, rapid aging, sleep problems and stress significantly reduce neurogenesis levels.

4. I don’t have any complaints yet, but what tests can I use to understand if there is a problem with my brain?
It is now possible to create brain maps specific to each person and detect diseases in advance. We definitely recommend this, especially if there is a history of neurological diseases in your family. You may not have any complaints, but you may have a history of Alzheimer’s disease in your family. Your genetic screenings should definitely be done, and your risk ratio should be calculated. If you have a history of stroke, tumor or other diseases in your family, or if you smoke or drink alcohol despite not having any of these, it would be beneficial to be evaluated.