NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's something Dr. James Jackson sees every day.
"It's far more than a fog," he said. "It's really disruptive functionally, it's impairing and it's disabling."
Dr. Jackson is the Director of Behavioral Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's ICU Recovery Center. He is studying why some long COVID patients struggle with their memory.
He works with hundreds of long COVID patients. Many of them exhibit similar symptoms.
"It is putting metal in the microwave, it is backing into cars in the parking lot, it is stopping at green lights, driving through red lights," Jackson said.
Jackson said long COVID may have accelerated dementia symptoms in older patients. In younger ones, he's seen signs of ABI, or 'acquired brain injury'.
"When you have an ABI there's no external mover, there's not traumatic event that happens," Jackson said. "There are medical, internal, biological processes at work — not getting enough oxygen, developing delirium, having something we call neuroinflammation."
Jackson said COVID survivors who suffered from a lack of oxygen or used a ventilator can exhibit ABI symptoms.
Kate Whitley is part of a long COVID support group at Vanderbilt.
"It took me about six to eight weeks to finally be able to return to my job, and then I was never fully the same," Whitley said.
The entrepreneur said because of symptoms, she relies on her employees to help keep her business afloat.
"All I kept saying was, 'I lost my ability to think'," Whitley said.
Her neurological issues impact every part of her life.
"I double book, I triple book things, I have short-term memory loss," she said.
But Dr. Jackson remains optimistic, especially for those who seek treatment.
"It is something called cognitive rehabilitation. It's a little different than therapy," he said. "It's certainly not a psychotherapy. It is learning strategies and techniques and tools to work around the deficits you have and to be really empowered."
He's hoping that with more research will come more answers, so that people like Kate can live the life they once did.
