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A large study suggests that Covid-19 may be a risk factor for heart attack and stroke for up to three years after infection.
The study was published Wednesday in the medical journal Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. It is based on medical data from almost a quarter of a million people registered in a large database called UK Biobank.
In this dataset, researchers identified more than 11,000 people who had a positive laboratory test for Covid-19 in their medical records in 2020. Of these, nearly 3,000 have been hospitalized as a result of their illness. They compared these groups with more than 222,000 others who did not have a history of Covid-19 during the same period.
In the year In 2020, before a vaccine was given to weaken the infection, people who contracted Covid-19 were twice as likely to suffer serious heart disease, such as heart attack or stroke, or death three years after their infection. Positive, the study found.
If someone was admitted to hospital with the virus, suggesting a serious case, they were more likely to develop heart disease than people without Covid in their medical records – more than three times.
Moreover, for those requiring hospitalization, Covid appeared to be a risk factor for future heart attack and stroke, as was diabetes or coronary artery disease, or PAD.
one Research is estimated In the year Between May 2020 and April 2021, more than 3.5 million Americans were hospitalized for Covid.
The increased risk of heart disease did not decrease over time, the study found.
“There is no sign of that risk diminishing,” said Dr. Stanley Hazen, MD, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Cleveland Clinic. I think this is one of the most interesting discoveries.
Dr. Patricia Best, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in the study, said the finding is surprising and appears to be unique to Covid-19.
“We know that infections increase the risk of heart attack, so if you have the flu, any kind of infection … bacterial or viral increases your risk of heart attack,” Best said. “But it generally goes away quickly after your illness.”
“That's a huge result, and I think it's just because of how different Covid is from other infections,” she said.
The researchers involved in the study said they do not know exactly why Covid has such a long-lasting effect on the cardiovascular system.
Previous studies have shown that the coronavirus can infect the cells on the walls of blood vessels. The virus has also been found in the sticky plaques that form in the arteries, which can tear the arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes.
“One of the things that VV does to the artery walls and the vascular system is damage, and it can continue to manifest over time,” said Dr. Hooman Alaye, a professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the Keck School. Medicine at the University of Southern California.
Their working theory, they said, is that Covid is disrupting the plaque that builds up in the artery walls, causing it to break down further and cause blood clots to form.
Alley and graduate student James Hilser took a closer look to see how Covid can cause long-term damage to the body.
They wanted to see if known genetic risk factors for heart disease, or gene changes linked to susceptibility to Covid infection, made others more likely to have a heart attack or stroke or death. After being hospitalized for covid. But they weren't.
According to the researchers, what was observed was determined by blood type.
Researchers know that people with certain non-O blood types – A, B or AB – are at high risk Cardiovascular diseases.
Blood type as well He is seen playing a role What is the probability of someone getting infected with covid? People with type O blood seem to have some protection there as well.
In the new study, people with type O blood who were hospitalized for Covid-19 were not as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as people with type A, B or AB blood. But that doesn't mean they're in the clear, Hazen said: They were still at higher risk of heart attack and stroke, but blood type was just another variable to consider.
The researchers believe that a gene that determines blood type may play a role in the risk of heart attack and stroke after Vivid, but they are not sure exactly how.
There was some promising news in the study, too. People who were hospitalized for Covid but took low-dose aspirin did not have an increased risk of a subsequent heart attack or stroke. That means the risk can be reduced, Hazen said.
“Heart disease and cardiovascular events are still the number one killer in the world,” he said.
Hazen says he feels sad when he sees patients, and now he makes sure to ask about their Covid history.
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“If you have Covid, we need to pay particular attention to making sure we're doing everything we can to reduce cardiovascular risk,” Hazen said.
This includes controlling blood pressure and cholesterol and possibly taking a daily aspirin.
The study did not examine the effect of the Covid-19 vaccine on people's cardiovascular risk, but it is suspected that vaccines are protective because they often make Covid infections less severe.
The study did not examine whether repeated covid infections are associated with greater health risks, as some studies have suggested.
Still, Grief spoke to anyone admitted to the hospital. Covid – vaccinated or unvaccinated – should pay attention to their heart risks.