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Brain fog/ cognitive dysfunction

Discussion in 'Neurological/cognitive/vision' started by JohnTheJack, Mar 25, 2021.

  1. JohnTheJack

    JohnTheJack Moderator Staff Member

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    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 17, 2021
  2. Colin

    Colin Established Member (Voting Rights)

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    I believe that he's quite right to be cautious. It would be very easy to just add to the babble. I think that this problem won't be resolved until the individual causes are resolved and they can label each one with an acronym/initialism and sideline the subjectivity.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2021
  3. Wyva

    Wyva Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    BBC Science Focus Magazine: What is brain fog? A neuroscientist reveals what causes it and how to get rid of it

    ME/CFS is briefly mentioned, as well as long covid, brain fog after chemotherapy and menopause.

    The author starts with talking about some potential biomedical reasons, then continues:

    "However, in all these contexts and others, it’s also possible that there are emotional and social contributors to brain fog. For instance, it’s telling that many people who have not been infected by coronavirus have nonetheless reported feeling more tired and distracted than usual during the pandemic, perhaps because of the stress and demands of lockdowns and homeworking.

    Likewise, one of the main causes of chemobrain is thought to be the stress involved in coping with the illness and treatment. When it comes to the menopause too, there could be indirect contributors to brain fog, such as the effects of poor sleep or the general stresses of navigating a challenging phase of life.

    In some situations, such as during pregnancy, the causes of brain fog could even be the mere expectation of mental impairment, fuelled by popular beliefs, rather than there being any underlying direct harmful effect of pregnancy on the brain, or indeed any objective impairment to cognitive function. In this sense, brain fog can be caused by a nocebo effect (a negative placebo effect)."

    Full article: https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/brain-fog/
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 17, 2021
  4. Wonko

    Wonko Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  5. Sean

    Sean Moderator Staff Member

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    Because it must always be stressful and demanding. :rolleyes:
     
  6. Art Vandelay

    Art Vandelay Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    About the author:

    Say no more.
     
  7. rvallee

    rvallee Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    The intersection of hubris and ignorance is really just offensive and stupid. I genuinely make no distinction between this mind-body crap and attributing the same to demons or ghost spirits at this point, there is no real difference here. Just pure reckless indifference towards other people as full living beings like themselves, creating paper-thin caricatures of human behavior as mere simpletons.

    Academia has ivory tower thinking but this is pedestal thinking, looking down on people from a position of privilege and being convinced of the superiority of their ideas even to reality itself. The pedestal has to be destroyed, medicine is literally regressing into pseudoscience and disinformation and there's zero accountability to it.
     
    Sidney, Hutan, DokaGirl and 13 others like this.
  8. CRG

    CRG Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Put that man in a room with a few pregnant persons so he can persuade them of the error of their beliefs. And they of his.
     
  9. JemPD

    JemPD Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Oh, another pillock whittering on as if he knows what he's taking about. They are like wasps at a picnic, except its not a picnic it's a car crash, and they are drones buzzing around, helping no one except themselves, just a thorn in the side of suffering people.
    I do wish they would all just Shut. Up.
     
  10. Keela Too

    Keela Too Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    On the subject of brain fog in a specific circumstance:

    I have recently discovered that wearing compression wear helps me to keep a clear head! I do agility with my dogs, who are trained to run ahead on verbal cues (ie I don’t run with them like most handlers).

    Typically I have found it difficult to remember a whole course, and by 40 seconds in, I am starting to get very foggy. Also on exiting the ring my legs are wobbly, and I’m having difficulty with co-ordination.

    Since starting to use, compression socks, leggings & a corset-like abdominal binder, my ability has dramatically changed. I can remember complex courses, I can deliver cues to my dogs in a more timely manner, and I can even walk out of the ring without immediately finding my strategically placed chair to flop into to put my head between my knees!

    Apparently getting more blood to the brain helps with thinking clearly!

    Now of course, this may not be everyone’s reason for “brain fog”, but it is certainly a clue to what might be happening. And strongly indicative of a physical reason for the inability to process information in a timely manner.
     
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  11. JemPD

    JemPD Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Sally I'd be most interested to know the brand/type of abdominal & leggings you use? If you wouldnt mind sharing? My fog is noticeably worse when I'm standing/sitting with feet on floor so i'm intrigued to try this on the off chance it might help me too.
     
  12. Trish

    Trish Moderator Staff Member

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    Last edited: Oct 6, 2021
  13. NelliePledge

    NelliePledge Moderator Staff Member

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    I think brain fog is like fatigue a general term that is open to broad interpretation.
     
    livinglighter, Sidney, Sean and 6 others like this.
  14. Argos

    Argos Established Member

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    If not for this overlap in terminology between mental and physical illnesses, these people would have nothing to base their mind-body crap on. Brain fog and fatigue carry an entire different meaning for a depressed person vs someone with ME but we simply have no other words to express ourselves and they shamelessly abuse that fact as evidence for their theories.
     
  15. Joan Crawford

    Joan Crawford Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Brain fog is an all encompassing statement relating to a wide range of cognitive difficulties.

    In pwME the difficulties with cognitive dysfunction can be assessed via neuropsychological testing. This consistently shows up problems with attention, concentration, difficulty with set shifting, fine and gross motor control, short and long term memory, reduced capacity to process information quickly, swiftly and accurately and so on. My doctoral work investigated these along with the impact of ongoing cognitive exertion. Deficits can reach the point of being impaired (below 5th percentile versus published norms). These deficits or impairments can be some of the best evidence that pwME are debilitated, no functioning as they should and can be profoundly ill.

    The deficits that pwME consistently show are not related / correlated with measurements of stress / distress. I found this. As have others independently. One cannot wish away such brain fog or nor can it be fixed by psychotherapy.
     
    merylg, livinglighter, Dom and 13 others like this.
  16. MSEsperanza

    MSEsperanza Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Very interesting. Is it published somewhere? Would you mind to share the title?
     
    MEMarge, alktipping, JemPD and 2 others like this.
  17. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    Trish and Peter Trewhitt like this.
  18. Sly Saint

    Sly Saint Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    https://www.meresearch.org.uk/brain-fog-2/
     
    livinglighter, Sidney, shak8 and 6 others like this.
  19. SNT Gatchaman

    SNT Gatchaman Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Not sure if this is the best thread to add this comment to, but it's possibly the most recent of relevant options.

    There has been comment in the past about how the term "brain fog" is unsatisfactory. More scientifically precise descriptors related to cognitive dysfunction would be preferable. It occurred to me that as the micro-clot finding is going through its early days of investigation, perhaps the term will end up being more accurate that we realised.

    If the primary pathophysiology of micro-clots is shown to be through platelet activation and endothelial dysfunction, taking effect principally at the capillary level, then this wispy material may be causing disruption of the blood-brain barrier, resulting in the neuroinflammation that Younger and others are showing.
     
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  20. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    Due to the direction of the posting, we've changed the title of this thread to cover brain fog/cognitive dysfunction generally, rather than just the article in the first post.
     
    merylg, Trish and Peter Trewhitt like this.

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