British supermodel Georgina Cooper has reportedly died due to blood-brain hemorrhage caused by the effects of COVID-19. According to news reports, Cooper, known for her Cool Britannia look, passed through the Greek island of Kos. Cooper, best known as London’s original toothy girl, is said to have suddenly fallen ill a day before returning to the UK.

According to experts, cases of intracranial hemorrhage accounted for between 50-85 per cent of the mortality rate among those hospitalized with COVID-19. Various international studies have reported the distribution of types of intracranial hemorrhage in groups of patients with coronavirus infection.

What is intracranial hemorrhage?

Also known as a brain bleed, intracranial hemorrhage is a type of stroke that causes blood to pool between your brain and skull. Doctors say this condition prevents oxygen from reaching your brain making it life threatening and requires prompt treatment for best results.

While brain bleeding is common after falls and traumatic injuries, doctors say the condition also affects people with uncontrolled high blood pressure and severe infections, when the body’s cells die due to lack of oxygen. The severity and outcome of a brain hemorrhage depends on what caused it, its location inside your skull, the size of the hemorrhage, and the time between bleeding and treatment. Once your brain cells die, they don’t come back, and the damage can be severe—resulting in physical, mental, and work-based disability.

How does SARS-CoV-2 infection increase the risk of intracranial hemorrhage?

According to various studies, there is more evidence that severe COVID-19 symptoms are not just limited to respiratory system failure. Clinical correlational studies conducted around the world provide new evidence for the association of COVID-19 with bleeding of intracranial blood vessels.

Scientists say endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis are associated with stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and CNS vasculitis in COVID-19 patients. The coronavirus is said to damage the vascular system, causing life-threatening complications.

Signs and symptoms of intracranial hemorrhage

Doctors say symptoms of bleeding in the brain vary depending on the type, but may include:

sudden tingling, weakness, numbness, or paralysis of your face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of your body

sudden and severe headache

• frequent nausea and vomiting
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• slurred speech
• fatigue and tiredness
• drowsiness
• difficulty swallowing
• lose sight
• stiff neck
• sensitivity to light
• loss of balance and coordination
• respiratory distress
• seizure
• Coma

Other causes of brain hemorrhage

Doctors say that, apart from Covid-19, leakage, broken or ruptured blood vessel can also cause bleeding in the brain. As a result, extra blood accumulates in your brain, and this may lead to:

• Head injury caused by a fall, car accident, or sports injury
• fatty deposits in your arteries
• Blood Clot
• a weak spot in the blood vessel wall
• Leakage from abnormally formed connections between arteries and veins
• Protein build-up within the walls of the brain’s arteries, also called cerebral amyloid angiopathy
• a brain tumor

Get the latest news live on Times Now with breaking news and top headlines from health and around the world.