COVID infection linked to sharp increase in long-term risk of heart attack, 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 approximately 200,000 people who were not infected. The doctors followed the health progress of the subjects 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 experience a major cardiac event up to three years after their initial diagnosis than those without a history. of the disease. COVID.

The risk of developing cardiovascular disease quadrupled in patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19.

The risks persisted for three years and held true even when doctors took into account conditions such as diabetes and a history of heart disease, which would make patients more vulnerable to cardiac events.

None of the factors proved to be a driver of the increase in cardiovascular events observed after infection with COVID-19.

“Worldwide, over a billion people have already experienced COVID-19. The reported findings are not a small effect in a small subgroup,” said study co-author Stanley Hazen, MD, Ph.D., chair of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. “The results included nearly a quarter of a million people and show a finding of global health care importance that promises to translate into an increase in cardiovascular disease globally.”

The researchers also observed a clear correlation between high risk and blood type.

Analysis of the data found that COVID-19 patients with blood types A, B or AB were twice as likely to experience a major cardiac event as those with an O blood type.

“The link uncovered by our research points to a possible interaction between the virus and the part of our genetic code that determines blood type and signals the need for further investigation,” Hazen said. “A better understanding of what COVID-19 does at the molecular level could potentially teach us about pathways associated with cardiovascular disease risk.”

Approximately 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 be infected with COVID-19 or suffer severe symptoms associated with the disease.

COVID-19 can adversely affect the heart in a number of 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 attack or stroke. COVID has also been linked to arrhythmia and myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle itself, which can damage the organ and cause cardiac arrest.

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 deaths related to cardiovascular disease – reversing a 10-year downward trend.

The two-year period between 2020 and 2022 saw a 9.3% increase, a sharp contrast from the 8.9% decline from 2010 to 2019.

As Hazen noted, “These findings reveal that while it is an upper respiratory tract infection, COVID-19 has a number of health implications and underscores that we need to consider the history of prior COVID-19 infection when formulating prevention plans and goals of cardiovascular diseases”.