Kacena diverted her work to SARS-CoV-2 after several studies from across the country revealed that those dying from the coronavirus had high numbers of megakaryocytes built up in various organs, which causes significant issues.

Megakaryocytes are among Kacena’s areas of expertise; she studies their relation to bone regeneration and fracture healing.

The Kacena Lab began using transgenic mouse models to further study the coronavirus and its relation to megakaryocytes and bone health. It was the first lab in Indiana and only one of a handful of labs in the United States to start conducting coronavirus-related experiments at this level.

Megakaryocytes are large bone marrow cells that produce platelets needed for blood clotting. The autopsies of those who died from COVID-19 have revealed significant megakaryocyte build-ups in the heart, lungs and brain. The lab’s goal was to discover whether regulating megakaryocytes could change the severity of COVID-19 and decrease its morbidity and mortality.

In this retrospective cohort study of 6,245,282 older adults (age ≥65 years) who had medical encounters between 2/2020-5/2021, we show that people with COVID-19 were at significantly increased risk for new diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease within 360 days after the initial COVID-19 diagnosis (hazard ratio or HR:1.69, 95% CI: 1.53-1.72), especially in people age ≥85 years and in women.

32 months into the pandemic, more than 66% of the world’s population is estimated to have some form of immunity against SARS-CoV-2, either through infection (‘natural’), vaccination (‘artificial’) or both (‘hybrid’). Hybrid immunity emerged as a form of ‘super immunity’ in 2021, when convalescent people receiving vaccine doses were found to have neutralizing antibody titres on average 50-fold higher than unvaccinated convalescent individuals1.

19 genes linked to ME/CFS, along with some overlap in long covid and MS.

Neuroimaging study reveals significant brain changes in areas associated with language comprehension, cognition, and circadian rhythm control six months after COVID-19 infection.

catching Covid makes you more likely to catch a later variant.

The virus can exhaust your T Cells, either killing them or making them go haywire. As they say, “T lymphocytes from COVID-19 patients underwent pronounced apoptosis compared to those from the healthy donors, showing a more than tenfold increase of apoptotic cells.” In case you’re wondering, apoptosis means cell death. Those T Cells also helped carry the virus to other parts of the body, acting like a subway for Covid.

Key takeaway: Covid kills T Cells.

It makes you more vulnerable to other diseases.

Fortune ran a good summary of this story, explaining how normal brains “get rid of a certain amount of inactive synapses…but the infected mini brains showed unnecessarily and inordinate levels of the clean-up process, similar to the level seen in neurological disorders like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease.” In other words, your brain starts killing off those internet connections that help your brain cells communicate. That’s why a third of people who get Covid wind up having problems thinking and concentrating later.

Key takeaway: Covid eats your brain.

Catching the virus elevates your risk of memory problems by 77 percent. It elevates your risk of stroke by 55 percent. It elevates your risk of seizures by 80 percent. That’s because Covid attacks the lining of your blood vessels, and it attacks your brain cells. Worse, the researchers can’t predict risk factors.