How does COVID-19 affect the heart?

 

• A new study takes a close look at the incidence of heart problems after COVID-19.
• The researchers find evidence of a wide range of heart issues for up to 1 year after recovery.
• Experts recommend that people who have had COVID-19 remain alert for symptoms of heart issues, promptly consulting a doctor if these occur.

Scientists are confident that COVID-19 can cause heart damage. Based on an analysis of national healthcare databases from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, a new study offers a more detailed look at common post-COVID-19 cardiac issues.

The study found that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are at an elevated risk of developing heart problems within the first year after the disease.

University of California, Los Angeles cardiologist Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow — who was not involved in the study — told Medical News Today, “There was a large spectrum of cardiovascular injury and risks documented.”

The study comes from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System.

The senior investigator is Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development service at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and clinical epidemiologist at Washington University.

“What we’re seeing isn’t good,” Dr. Al-Aly says. “COVID-19 can lead to serious cardiovascular complications and death. The heart does not regenerate or easily mend after heart damage. These are diseases that will affect people for a lifetime.”

A variety of heart issues

Dr. Al-Aly described to MNT the types of heart damage known to occur after a SARS-CoV-2 infection:

“A broad array of cardiovascular diseases, including cerebrovascular disease, dysrhythmias, ischemic and nonischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure, and thromboembolic disease. The risks were evident even in people who had mild COVID-19 and did not need to be hospitalized during the acute phase of the ​disease.”

It also appears to be the case, Dr. Al-Aly observes, that COVID-19 does not play favorites when it comes to who might experience postinfection heart problems,

“I would also add that the risks were evident in young [people and older adults], females and males, white people and Black people, people who smoke and people who do not, people with comorbidities — diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease — and people without.”

Source: Medical News Today