COVID-19 infection linked to sharp increase in long-term risk of heart disease, stroke: Cleveland Clinic, USC study

A history of COVID-19 can double the long-term risk of heart attack, stroke or death, according to a new study from the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Southern California.

The researchers analyzed data from 10,000 people treated for COVID-19 in 2020 and about 200,000 people who were not infected. Doctors followed the progress of the subjects’ health for three years.

The study, published in the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology Journal, found that patients with any type of COVID-19 infection were twice as likely to have a major cardiovascular event in up to three years after their first diagnosis than those without a history of the disease. COVID.

The risk of having a heart attack is four times higher in patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19.

The risks continued for three years and were the same even when doctors controlled for conditions such as diabetes and a history of heart disease, which would have made patients more vulnerable to seizures. it’s the heart.

None of these factors have been proven to be drivers of the increased cardiovascular events seen after COVID-19 infection.

“Globally, more than a billion people have had COVID-19. The reported findings are not a small effect in a small group,” said co-author Stanley Hazen, MD, Ph.D., chairman of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. “The results included about a quarter of a million people and points to a finding of global health care importance that promises to translate into an increase in cardiovascular disease worldwide.”

Researchers have also observed a clear relationship between high risk and blood type.

Data analysis revealed that COVID-19 patients with blood types A, B, or AB are twice as likely to have a major heart attack than those with type O blood.

“The association discovered by our research indicates a possible interaction between the virus and part of our genetic makeup that determines blood type and points to the need for further research,” said Hazen. “A better understanding of what COVID-19 does at the molecular level can teach us about the pathways involved in heart disease risk.”

About 55% of Americans and 60% of the world’s population have a non-O blood type.

These findings build on previous research suggesting that people with type O blood may be less likely to contract COVID-19 or experience severe symptoms associated with the illness.

COVID-19 can affect the heart in many ways.

First, the virus causes inflammation throughout the body, putting pressure on blood vessels and increasing the risk of blood clots that can lead to heart disease or stroke. COVID is also linked to arrhythmia and myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle itself, which can damage the organ and cause a heart attack.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an alarming increase in the number of cardiovascular-related deaths — reversing an age-old trend. 10.

The two-year period between 2020 and 2022 saw an increase of 9.3%, a significant difference from the 8.9% decrease from 2010 to 2019.

As Hazen noted, “These results reveal that although it is an upper respiratory infection, COVID-19 has different health effects and highlights that we need to consider the history of infection of COVID-19 before we develop plans and targets for heart disease prevention.”