A potential explanation for why some COVID-19 survivors have cognitive difficulties, according to a report, the spike protein, a component of COVID-19, was discovered by researchers in Germany that part of the virus, the spike protein, remains in the brain long after the virus clears out. Brain fog, memory loss, and difficulty concentrating may be the result of inflammation and damage caused by the spike protein (Rong et al., 2023).
Fortunately, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is shown in various research to be helpful. Kampo, a branch of TCM that originates from Japan, uses several formulas to help with sequalae of Brain-fog, naming ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ถ๐ช ๐ก๐ฉ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ช๐ข ๐๐ฆ๐ช ๐๐ช๐ข๐ฐ ๐ ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ฏ, ๐๐ฉ๐ช ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข ๐๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ, and ๐๐ช ๐๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ as effective remedies among others (Takayama et al., 2021).
Acupuncture has also been shown to positively affect disease outcome by modulating inflammation, restoring healthy nitric oxide production, adjusting redox imbalance, and regulating blood pressure (Williams & Moramarco, 2022).
In TCM, it is crucial to identify the syndromes or patterns of the patients before embarking on any treatment, hence acupoints and herbal formulae selection are much dependent upon the individual constitution and patterns. Once this has been established, a treatment plan would be formulated and explained to the patient to help them with Long COVID.
Most Long COVID patients find relief with TCM treatment and those who are on the course of TCM treatment while having COVID tends to have lighter symptoms and recover faster without much sequalae (An et al., 2021, Huang et al., 2021, and Liu, 2020).
In our practice, we combined acupuncture and herbal treatment in managing Long COVID, especially in brain fog and exhaustion.
However, those with more severe symptoms ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ before embarking on traditional medicine.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ:
An, X., Zhang, Y. H., Duan, L., Jin, D., Zhao, S., Zhou, R. R., Duan, Y., Lian, F., & Tong, X. (2021). The direct evidence and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of covid-19. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 137, 111267.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111267
Damian McNamara, M. A. (2023, April 14). Had Covid? part of the virus may stick around in your brain. Medscape. Retrieved April 23, 2023, from
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/990741?ecd=wnl_tp10_daily_230422_MSCPEDIT_etid5360140&uac=389008FV&impID=5360140
Huang, K., Zhang, P., Zhang, Z., Youn, J. Y., Wang, C., Zhang, H., & Cai, H. (2021). Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the treatment of covid-19 and other viral infections: Efficacies and mechanisms. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 225, 107843.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2021.107843
Liu, C.-xiao. (2020). Pay attention to situation of SARS-COV-2 and TCM advantages in treatment of novel coronavirus infection. Chinese Herbal Medicines, 12(2), 97โ103.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2020.03.004
Rong, Z., Mai, H., Kapoor, S., Puelles, V. G., Czogalla, J., Schรคdler, J., Vering, J., Delbridge, C., Steinke, H., Frenzel, H., Schmidt, K., Caliskan, ร. S., Wettengel, J. M., Cherif, F., Ali, M., Kolabas, Z. I., Ulukaya, S., Horvath, I., Zhao, S., โฆ Ertรผrk, A. (2023). SARS-COV-2 spike protein accumulation in the skull-meninges-brain axis: Potential implications for long-term neurological complications in post-COVID-19.
https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.04.04.535604
Takayama, S., Namiki, T., Odaguchi, H., Arita, R., Hisanaga, A., Mitani, K., & Ito, T. (2021). Prevention and recovery of COVID-19 patients with Kampo Medicine: Review of Case Reports and ongoing clinical trials. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 12.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.656246
Tokumasu, K., Ueda, K., Honda, H., Sunada, N., Sakurada, Y., Matsuda, Y., Nakano, Y., Hasegawa, T., Otsuka, Y., Obika, M., Hagiya, H., Kataoka, H., & Otsuka, F. (2022). Application of Kampo medicines for treatment of general fatigue due to Long Covid. Medicina, 58(6), 730.
https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina58060730
Williams, J. E., & Moramarco, J. (2022). The role of acupuncture for Long Covid: Mechanisms and models. Medical Acupuncture, 34(3), 159โ166.
https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2021.0090