Fight-or-flight response is altered in healthy young people who had COVID-19

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/924811

 

News Release 9-Aug-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
The Physiological Society

 

New research published in The Journal of Physiology found that otherwise healthy young people diagnosed with COVID-19, regardless of their symptom severity, have problems with their nervous system when compared with healthy control subjects.

Specifically, the system which oversees the fight-or-flight response, the sympathetic nervous system, seems to be abnormal (overactive in some instances and underactive in others) in those recently diagnosed with COVID-19.  

These results are especially important given the emerging evidence of symptoms like racing hearts being reported in conjunction with “long-COVID.”

The impact of this alteration in fight-or-flight response, especially if prolonged, means that many processes within the body could be disrupted or affected. This research team has specifically been looking at the impact on the cardiovascular system - including blood pressure and blood flow - but the sympathetic nervous system is also important in exercise responses, the digestive system, the immune function, and more.

Understanding what happens in the body shortly following diagnosis of COVID-19 is an important first step towards understanding the potential long-term consequences of contracting the disease.

Importantly, if similar disruption of the flight-or-fight response, like that found here in young individuals, is present in older adults following COVID-19 infection, there may be substantial adverse implications for cardiovascular health.


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