How\u2019s the weather inside your head? If it\u2019s foggy, you are not alone. You may have what people with a variety of health conditions call brain fog \u2014 a common term for thinking problems that can make getting through the day a mental slog.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s no official list of symptoms, people with brain fog often say that \u201ctheir thinking is not clear, it\u2019s cloudy,\u201d says Lynne Shinto, a naturopathic doctor and professor of neurology at Oregon Health & Science University. \u201cThey might say, \u2018I have problems concentrating.\u2026 I feel like I don\u2019t have clarity of thought, and sometimes I forget things.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike people with dementia<\/a> or other, more severe cognitive challenges, they often can do what they need to do in a day, but \u201ctheir thought processes are just slower,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Cognitive psychologist Julie Dumas, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont, says brain fog can be like \u201cthinking through mud or molasses.\u201d<\/p>\n Brain fog is not a disease or disorder itself, so it\u2019s important to figure out the underlying cause, Dumas says.<\/p>\n A recent research review published in Trends in Neurosciences found that brain fog has been linked with more than a dozen chronic conditions<\/a>, and exact symptoms and cognitive test results can vary, depending on the apparent cause. That suggests that there\u2019s no one underlying pathway, the researchers said.<\/p>\n Here are some of the most common possible causes of brain fog:<\/p>\n 1. Sleep problems<\/p>\n Not getting enough sleep<\/a> is a major cause of brain fog. If you have chronic insomnia, which can include problems falling or staying asleep, improving your sleep can clear the fog, says Leslie Swanson, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Michigan Medicine.<\/p>\n Another sleep disorder strongly tied to daytime sleepiness and foggy thinking is obstructive sleep apnea<\/a>, a disorder in which people stop breathing repeatedly during sleep. Many people go undiagnosed and untreated for this condition, Swanson says. \u201cSnoring is a red alert<\/a>\u201d and a good reason to see a doctor.<\/p>\n 2. Perimenopause<\/p>\n Women going through the hormonal shifts of perimenopause, the years before periods end, often report brain fog, with problems like forgetting names or having trouble focusing at work<\/a>, Swanson says. Studies back them up, she says, finding \u201csmall declines\u201d in learning and verbal memory.<\/p>\n Part of the explanation is that perimenopause often comes with sleep disturbances, especially unwanted awakenings during the night, Swanson says. Hot flashes<\/a> cause some, but not all, of those disturbances, she says.<\/p>\n Hormonal shifts may affect sleep and brain functioning even in women who don\u2019t have a lot of hot flashes, she says. The good news, she says, is that the fog tends to lift after menopause.<\/p>\n 3. COVID-19 and other infections<\/p>\n When you get the flu, COVID-19 or any infection<\/a>, especially with a fever, you can get brain fog, which is likely linked to inflammation, Dumas says. But one reason more people are hearing about brain fog these days is that it\u2019s a common part of long COVID<\/a>, the symptoms that continue or develop after the initial illness, she says.<\/p>\n Shinto says she has seen some long COVID patients with \u201cintense brain fog, where they have a lot of trouble concentrating [and] intense mental tasks are very draining.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, many are constantly physically exhausted. That combination, along with other symptoms, can be disabling, making it impossible for some people to manage their usual daily activities, she adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How\u2019s the weather inside your head? If it\u2019s foggy, you are not alone. 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