Why is it “good” to have a headache when suffering from COVID-19?

A study conducted at the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona he explained it Patients with headache may have a better evolution before COVID-19. The research, which was published in the journal Headache, was produced by analysis of 130 coronavirus patients admitted to hospital during the first wave of the pandemic, between March and April.

Headache is one of the most common neurological symptoms of the coronavirus along with anosmia and ageusia, better known as loss of smell and taste. However, it was headache the reason for the investigation because “many patients with headaches called saying they had never had a headache as bad as during the infection”explains Patricia Pozo, head of the Headache and Neurological Pain group at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).

The group of scientists found this out 75% of coronavirus cases had some type of headache, and of these, 24.7% recognized the pain was severe and took weeks to disappear. According to the researchers, patients who came to the hospital with headaches had a shorter clinical duration of illness than one week. Patients without headache suffered from the disease, on average, 31 days, while those with it reduced this period to 24.

“It seems clear that the presence of headache is a good prognostic factor for COVID-19 and could be useful for predicting the evolution of patients”he stated well. However, the firm has a number of limitations recognized by the workers themselves since then only patients who were neither very severe nor very mild were studied. “Therefore, it is necessary to continue studying the relationship that both diseases may have”, they ensure.

Neurological problems and scientific explanation

According to the same study, Coronavirus patients with headaches are more likely to lose their sense of smell and taste.

The main hypothesis that would attempt to explain the benefit that headache would provide in COVID-19 disease is based on the fact that the inflammation of the trigeminovascular system, produced in migraines, could serve as a defense against the virus. “If patients have a greater local response, it will prevent the virus from producing severe systemic inflammation by releasing a cytosine storm.”, explains the neurologist.

hence, the levels of the IL-6 molecule, which is related to cytosines that can cause coronavirus death. Observation has determined it headache patients had lower IL-6 levels, which would allow them, according to the research, to have a better evolution of the disease.