More Than Half Of COVID-19 Patients In New Study Have Heart Damage

Now, we can add heart damage to the list of common post-COVID complications, according to a new study.

The long and short of it: Older individuals with pre-existing heart issues, or those with 'sleeper' heart conditions which have gone undiagnosed, are at the most risk.

While we've known since at least February that coronavirus was suspected of causing - or contributing to - cardiac problems, the extent has been largely unknown. In April, The Harvard Gazette detailed the "multiple ways" COVID-19 may spark cardiac damage;

First, people with preexisting heart disease are at a greater risk for severe cardiovascular and respiratory complications from COVID-19. Similarly, research has shown that infection with the influenza virus poses a more severe threat for people with heart disease than those without cardiac problems. Research also shows that heart attacks can actually be brought on by respiratory infections such as the flu.

Second, people with previously undiagnosed heart disease may be presenting with previously silent cardiac symptoms unmasked by the viral infection. In people with existing heart-vessel blockages, infection, fever, and inflammation can destabilize previously asymptomatic fatty plaques inside the heart vessels. Fever and inflammation also render the blood more prone to clotting, while also interfering with the body’s ability to dissolve clots — a one-two punch akin to throwing gasoline on smoldering embers. -The Harvard Gazette

Last month the President of Burundi died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 55 after falling ill with coronavirus.

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