Covid's long term effect on the heart | India News

A bout of Covid and a bit of heart trouble may not be the end of it. New studies show that the effect of Covid on the heart may last much longer. Dr Ambuj Roy, professor of cardiology at AIIMS, talks about how you should take care of your heart and the red flags to watch out for. Q: A recent study in the US said that Covid-19 puts people at a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular diseases up to a year after infection. What kind of cardiovascular issues are we talking about here? How does Covid affect the heart?A: Yes, this is an important study that shows that Covid-19 may affect the heart beyond the acute stage. However, this is no surprise as previous studies have shown a heightened risk of involvement of the heart after a flu episode and this is what we are seeing in this study. The study shows an increased risk of acute heart and brain attack. It also shows an increased chance of palpitations, abnormality of rhythm of the heart, and reduced pumping capacity of the heart. The other side effect seen is increased clot formation in the legs which can travel to the chest and give rise to serious complications. The reasons for these are hypothesised to be increased inflammation of our blood vessels and increased chance of clot formation in them.Q: Many of these conditions are chronic in nature. Does that mean the effect of Covid may linger on for years?A: Covid-19 infection serves as a trigger for a heart condition in vulnerable patients with risk factors like tobacco consumption, diabetes, hypertension, or a previously diagnosed cardiac disease. Again, based on insights from previous viral infections, this risk is most in the first year after the infection and then flattens out. The risk of heart involvement till late is more in those who have severe Covid-19 pneumonia than in those with mild illness.Untitled Carousel 86005562Q: Some studies have identified the ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’ – a stress-induced heart condition that is impacting women more. What’s that?A: Broken Heart Syndrome is a condition induced by stress and extreme anxiety more commonly among women. The condition is named Takotsubo Disease after the octopus trapping pot used by Japanese fishers which has a narrow neck and a round wide bottom. The affected apical part of the heart balloons out and resembles this device on angiography or ultrasound. The condition has more commonly been reported in these times of the pandemic understandably because of the increased mental stress that people have endured due to illnesses in families and society. Thankfully the condition is reversible in most cases.Q: All this means that anyone who has had Covid infection, heart health should be at the core of their recovery care process. What can one do to keep healthy and the signs of trouble one needs to watch out for?A: Managing heart health diligently should be mandatory in those recovering from Covid-19. This entails basic lifestyle measures and tests that one needs to undertake for preventing heart disease. A healthy diet, abstinence from tobacco use, and light physical activity should be adopted by all. Those with a cardiac condition should make sure they continue their therapy through the episode of Covid-19. Others should be screened for high blood pressure, diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and if found abnormal should be optimally treated.Q: When the pandemic began, very few people were vaccinated. Now, a large number are fully vaccinated. Will that also help bring down cases of long Covid or the serious impact on the heart as you have pointed out?A: Yes definitely. We know and have seen that vaccination dramatically lowers the risk of severe Covid-19 and this would therefore lower the probability of cardiac diseases. Therefore, vaccination will help beyond preventing serious Covid-19.Q: Even without Covid, Indians are said to have a higher predisposition towards heart disease than many other populations. The young are increasingly at risk too. Why is that?A: Yes, South Asians as a race are generally susceptible to heart disease. This has been observed in many studies done across the world comparing migrant South Asians to the native population. The reasons are probably related to both nature and nurture. So, while we can do little about our genes there is a lot we can do in terms of improving lifestyle and managing the basic risk factors. Our consumption of fruits and vegetables is very low at the population level. Our physical activity levels need to be improved. We have a large population of untreated patients with high blood pressure and blood sugar. Population screening for hypertension and diabetes will go a long way in detecting and managing these otherwise silent diseases which are a harbinger of future heart ailments. We have examples from the western world that the burden of heart disease can be reduced by half by adhering to these simple measures in our population and that we must do so.Health on your mind? Subscribe to our weekly health newsletter here