Long-term Covid patients are twice as likely to have life-threatening heart problems, a major study shows.
The condition, which refers to Covid symptoms that last long after the original illness has subsided, affects around two million people in the UK and often causes shortness of breath, fatigue and muscle aches.
There are around 600,000 people in the UK who have been suffering from long-term Covid symptoms for more than two years, according to the government.
Last year, The Mail on Sunday became the first British newspaper to suggest that the symptoms could be due to hidden blood clots in the heart’s arteries.
Now, a study presented to the prestigious American College of Cardiology, which reviewed the medical records of 5.8 million people, showed a clear link between the two conditions.
Long-term Covid patients twice as likely to have life-threatening heart problems, major study finds (stock photo)
The study found that patients with prolonged Covid were significantly more likely to experience chest pain and palpitations than those who did not have the disease. They were also more likely to show signs of heart disease on scans and diagnostic tests.
Researchers involved in the study are urging doctors to screen anyone with lung disease for heart problems.
Doctors should be aware of these cardiac complications [of long Covid] may exist and should be further investigated if a patient complains of these symptoms long after contracting the virus,” said Joanna Lee, a medical student at David Tvildiani Medical University in Tbilisi, Georgia, who led the study. said.
She added: “For patients, if you’ve had Covid-19 and you still have breathing problems or new heart problems, you should go to the doctor and get it checked out.”
Although millions of people have been living with Covid for a long time since the pandemic began, the exact cause of the disease is still unknown. It also means that there is no cure.
Experts have proposed a number of possible explanations, including the idea that the virus lives on in the body long after it is first infected.
However, when we examined the alarming reports of long-term Covid patients with heart problems, several doctors argued that the virus causes inflammation and clots in blood vessels, making it harder for oxygen to reach the heart.
In particular, cardiologists have pointed to a heart condition called microvascular angina as a possible cause of long-term Covid symptoms. The disease, which is notoriously difficult to diagnose, occurs when the smallest vessels that supply blood to the heart become blocked. The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain.
Researchers involved in the new study, conducted by a group called the Global Remote Research Scholars Program, also pointed to the inflammation caused by the Covid virus as the cause of the heart problems. The study points out that diagnostic tests show that long-term Covid patients have persistently high levels of inflammation in the body.
The researchers analyzed data from 11 studies that included data on cardiovascular outcomes in people with long-term Covid, as well as a control group of people who had never had the virus. Only heart diseases that occurred after the infection were counted, not long Covid patients who already had a heart problem.
Around 600,000 people in the UK have been suffering from long-term Covid symptoms for more than two years, according to the government (pictured)
Of the more than 5.8 million study participants, nearly 450,000 experienced new heart complications. Among those with long Covid, the rate of heart problems was more than double that of those without.
Some experts argue that it is likely that many of these people would have developed heart disease later in life, but Covid has accelerated the onset of symptoms.
“Viruses always have an inflammatory effect on the human body, but Covid seems to have a direct impact on the heart,” said Dr. Malcolm Finlay, consultant cardiology at Barts Heart Center in London.
“It’s possible that many of these people would have developed a heart problem within five years, but after they got Covid, because of the added stress, that problem appeared within just two years.
“It is important that we continue to monitor these heart issues in the coming years to see what the long-term impact of Long Covid is.”
The good news is that microvascular angina can be treated with medications that relieve symptoms. Other forms of heart disease can also be treated, experts add.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
