07/24/2020 - 12:59
- Clarín.com
- Good Life
Fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, sudden loss of smell and / or taste are the most common symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but not the only ones. And its effects are not limited to the lungs, either. A scientific review published this week showed the impact on other organs and tissues, and one of its authors characterized it as a "multi-system" disease. Headache was identified as one of the neurological manifestations of Covid-19 . Now, in another work, Spanish researchers identified four different types of headaches associated with the infection.
Covid-19's own headache, the aggravation of the patient's primary headache, that produced by personal protective equipment (PPE) and one related to emotional tension are the four types linked to SARS-CoV-2 , according to the results of a study published in the Headache journal by researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and from the Hospital Clínico San Carlos de Madrid and Clínico de Valladolid.
"The headache that predominates with the coronavirus is of great intensity, which worsens with physical activity and head movements , and can affect the entire upper part or one side. It can awaken the patient at night and will usually bother them. noises and sometimes lights, "says Jesús Porta Etessam, head of Neurology at the Hospital Clinico San Carlos and professor at the UCM.
In the study, experts clinically delineated the types of headaches thanks to surveys conducted with more than a hundred health professionals, mainly from Madrid. Three out of four (73.2%) had no history of headache , 17.9% reported a history of migraine, and 7.1% had a history of tension headache.
Up to 15% of patients (although some studies point to a higher percentage) have headaches, many without fever. "Each one has a different pathophysiological explanation and, therefore, management must be differential," says Porta Etessam.
What to do in each case
The researcher explains that, in the case of the headache caused by Covid-19, anesthetic blockade and steroids are carried out, although "there is no evidence as it is a really recent condition." If it is an aggravation of the patient's primary headache, the usual treatments are applied depending on whether it is a migraine or a cluster.
Incorporating new elements to protect yourself from infection can also cause these headaches, the researchers found. Modifying the way of wearing masks and protective screens would be enough to stop them. And finally, to treat the headache caused by the stress of the situation, the answer would be given, for the moment, by the neuromodulators.
" Most subside within the first 24 hours to a week , but a small percentage will not respond to standard treatments. We already have several patients who have developed a chronic headache," acknowledges the neurologist.
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