Long COVID & Heart Disease
Epicentre News • 11 March 2022
The cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 are well known, but the heart problems after the recovery of COVID-19 have not yet been completely understood.
What does COVID do to the Heart?
According to a study by Mohammad AmjadHossain and Jong-HoonKim, COVID-19 viruses were detected in heart tissue in 16 out of 22 deaths from COVID-19. Therefore, COVID-19 can directly or indirectly cause damage to the heart, causing abnormal heart function.
In addition, the COVID-19 is known to infect heart cells and cause arrhythmia (abnormal heart beats) and heart failure, leading to possibly deadly damage.
What Does The Research Say:
Using the national healthcare databases from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to build a cohort of 153,760 people with COVID-19 they looked at the risks and 1-year burdens of heart problems.
Their study showed that beyond the first 30 days after an infection, people with COVID-19 are at an increased risk of heart disease spanning several categories, including cerebrovascular disorders, dysrhythmias, ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure and thromboembolic disease.
Are some people more at risk?
These risks and burdens were clear even among people who were not hospitalized during the active phase of COVID-19. The risk increased based on the severity of the COVID-19 infection (non-hospitalized, hospitalized and admitted to intensive care).
Their results give evidence that the risk and 1-year burden of heart disease in survivors of COVID-19 are substantial. Care pathways of those surviving a COVID-19 infection should include attention to heart health and disease.
