我是12月下旬阳的，一周后就抗原阴性了。就在兴高采烈地觉得自己彻底痊愈了的时候，才发现事情远没有那么简单：

最近的我，时刻处于找手机的状态，好不容易找到了，又忘记为什么要找手机了；

不然就是开会时轮到自己发言，话到嘴边却大脑空白，支支吾吾，忘记要说什么。

我还发现最近的自己没法集中注意力，很简单的事也无法专心完成，更别提多重任务处理了。

和“阳过”的朋友一交流才发现，原来我不是个例！很多人也有类似“脑子蒙了层雾”似的症状。

I think by now, most of you have already recovered from COVID, while most of your symptoms might have disappeared already, some of you might still be experiencing some lasting after effects.

相信听我们节目的大部分小伙伴和我一样都已经 “阳康”了, 虽然可能大部分的症状都已经没有了, 但阳过之后可能会有一些持续时间更长的后遗症。

For example, you might still be coughing a little bit. For me, personally, I feel like my sense of smell is not as sharp as before.

In addition to this, some people have been complaining that their brains seem to have slowed down a bit.

So I thought it would be a good idea to talk about this buzzword relating to covid, Brain Fog，中文直接翻译成 “脑雾”。

I'm pretty sure many of you have heard of this expression both in Chinese and in English, but actually brain fog isn't a medical term.

Brain Fog

It's a term used for certain symptoms that can affect your ability to think, you may feel confused or disorganized or find it hard to focus or put your thoughts into words.

所谓的 “脑雾” 其实并不是一个医学术语, 只是大家对于认知能力受到一定影响, 喜欢用的这么一个口头表达。

To be more specific, this might include a range of symptoms.

看看你有没有躺枪,它的具体症状包括:

-Poor concentration, especially difficulty in multitasking and following conversations. 比较难集中注意力, 特别是multitasking几件事情同时进行的时候尤其明显, 而且有时候跟人说话感觉跟不上节奏;

-Feeling confused, 喜欢犯迷糊;

-Thinking more slowly than usual;

-Forgetfulness, 健忘;

-Mental fatigue, 精神疲累;

-Fuzzy thoughts, 脑子里面就好像一团雾,感觉什么东西都模模糊糊的。

Brain fog can feel similar to the effects of sleep deprivation or stress.

即使身体完全健康的人, 也可能因为睡眠不足或者压力过大出现brain fog.

It's not the same as dementia and does not mean structural damage to the brain.

不用太担心的就是, 这种脑雾和真正的失智或者痴呆症是完全不同的, 这并不意味着你的脑子受到了结构性的损伤。

Now there are a number of factors and health conditions that can cause brain fog, including lack of sleep, increased stress levels.

会造成脑雾的原因, 除了我们刚才说到的睡眠不足或者说压力过大, 还可能包括depression抑郁, dementia痴呆症或者失智, perimenopause女性的围绝经期也就是绝经前的时期, medication服用的某种药物, hormonal conditions 激素水平的变化。

For example, some women might complain about brain fog during or right after the pregnancy.

俗话里说的什么 “一孕傻三年” 其实也跟 brain fog有点关系。

And of course, one other factor that can cause brain fog is a viral infection such as COVID-19.

当然还有一个很重要的原因就是病毒性感染, 比如新冠。

While recovering from COVID-19, some people experience brain fog, symptoms may vary and change over time.

It's not just people who were hospitalized with coronavirus who can develop brain fog.

It's a common part of long COVID.

新冠所引起的脑雾, 不光是那些危重症在医院里的人才会出现, 很多得过新冠的人也会出现这种long COVID, 所谓的长新冠, 也就是新冠的一些后续问题后遗症, 脑雾就是其中之一。

Many people who have recovered from the acute life-threatening effects of COVID-19, but still report that they don't feel that they're thinking and memory back to normal.

这也就是很多人可能已经没有了其他那些更严重的, 甚至危及生命的新冠症状, 但是仍然觉得他们的思维和记忆力都没有恢复到之前的正常水平。

You can think of the brain fog as a networking problem with communication between the various parts of the brain becoming compromised by either direct injury from the virus itself or from immune system over activation that leaves us simmering, but gradually fading inflammation behind in the brain.

更具体的来讲会出现这种脑雾, 其实是因为你的脑部的各个部分, 由于受到了病毒的攻击, 仍然在恢复的过程中, 也可能是在病毒攻击下, 你整体的免疫系统被过度激活, 所以在脑部仍然留有一些炎症反应的后遗症。

A COVID-19 infection and its inflammatory aftermath jolt the intricately coordinated neural networks in the brain and disrupt the flow of Information.

新冠感染的本身以及它后续的一些炎症的反应, 都可能一定程度地影响我们的脑部, 也就让我们传递信息的这些通路出现了一些不顺畅。

The good news is that the vast majority of patients with the post COVID-19 brain fog recover completely over the course of 6 to 9 months.

What can we do to help brain fog？

There's some things you can do to help manage your symptoms if you're really suffering from post-covid brain fog.

-Stay hydrated, 保持适量饮水;

-Get enough sleep, 睡眠质量保证;

-Perform aerobic exercise, 适量进行一些有氧运动

You may need to start slow, but then gradually work towards 30 minutes a day.

It doesn't have to be strenuous. But this regular exercise, ideally outside, going to be good for your brain health;

-Eat a healthy balanced diet, you can perhaps try to eat some brain healthy food.

tips

And it's also very important to participate in social activities. 社交的活动也不可以少.

We are social animals, not only do social activities benefit our moods, but they help our thinking and memory as well.

You can also pursue other beneficial activities like engaging in novel, cognitively stimulating activities.

除了社交活动, 平时也可以经常做一些有益于认知能力锻炼的益智的活动.

To sum up, try to keep your brain active and keep your mood cheerful.

And if you are currently suffering from brain fog, I wish you a speedy recovery.

Now let's move on to the sample sentence.

例句示范

Example 1：

-After patients recover from typical symptoms of COVID-19, some have this lingering brain fog.