Damage to the brain's "control center" may be behind the long-term breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety experienced by long Covid sufferers, new research suggests. Scientists from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford used ultra-high-resolution scanners to study the brains of people who had been admitted to hospitals with severe Covid-19 early in the pandemic before vaccines were available. The findings, published in the journal Brain, may help scientists and clinicians to better understand the long-term effects of Covid-19 on the brain and the rest of the body.

What did the study find?
Powerful MRI scanners, known as 7-Tesla or 7T, were used to study in fine detail the brains of 30 people who had suffered severe Covid, and compare them with the scans of 51 people with no history of infection. Researchers found signs of inflammation in the brainstem, a "small but critical structure that governs life-sustaining bodily functions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure," said The Guardian.

What does it mean?
The scans suggest that severe Covid infections can provoke an "immune reaction" that inflames the brainstem, "with the resulting damage producing symptoms that can last for months after patients have been discharged," said the paper. That these "abnormalities" were in the parts of the brain associated with breathing "strongly suggests that long-lasting symptoms are an effect of inflammation in the brainstem following Covid-19 infection," said Dr. Catarina Rua, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and first author on the new study.

The condition known as long Covid or post-Covid syndrome can cause extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, brain fog, dizziness, heart palpitations and muscle aches lasting for 12 weeks or more, according to U.K. health guidelines. The study found that the former Covid patients with the highest levels of brainstem inflammation also had the highest levels of depression and anxiety, also key symptoms of long Covid.

Does this change how Covid should be treated?
This study doesn't "conclusively prove" the causes, but it does "point a finger at one possible suspect for some of the symptoms experienced," said Paul Mullins, a professor in neuroimaging at Bangor University. The results suggest it might be useful to "reduce inflammatory responses during initial Covid infection."

A violent crime surge during and after the Covid-19 pandemic led to calls for new approaches to the nationwide problem. While many forms of violent crime are now back to pre-pandemic levels, the presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump has sought to capitalize on the supposed issue by promising toughness — as well as an array of policies designed to appeal to voters concerned about law and order. "Kamala Harris and the communist left have unleashed a brutal plague of bloodshed, crime, chaos, misery and death upon our land," Trump said in September. 

What policies will Trump enact to cut crime?
His Agenda 47 policy package has detailed the policies his administration would pursue if he wins the election. He promises to revive "stop-and-frisk" practices, hire and train new law enforcement officers, pursue the death penalty for drug traffickers and call in the National Guard to places where he determines order has broken down. 

Is there a link between crime and immigration?
The Trump campaign has sought to link crime to immigration, in part by depicting immigrants as criminals and highlighting news stories where undocumented immigrants have committed crimes. Trump has regularly claimed the Biden-Harris administration admitted tens of thousands of violent criminals into the country and that other countries are sending convicted criminals directly to the U.S. "There is no evidence that any country is emptying prisons to allow violent criminals to come to the U.S. border," said Axios. The Trump campaign says it has a plan for mass deportations.

How will police be involved? 
Trump recently speculated about how crime could be brought down with a "day of violence," during which law enforcement would presumably be freed of constitutional restraints on the use of force. Property crime and retail theft could be halted following "one real rough, nasty day," Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania in September. 

"A 'day of violence' by vengeful police is not, of course, authorized by existing laws anywhere," said New York magazine. The former president was "clearly just floating it in jest," said campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.