But she says there is a step people can take to protect themselves. Prior research has shown that among older people at higher risk, the flu virus can increase the risk of a heart attack in the months after an infection in the same way it's been shown with COVID. Even though new variants may be less virulent and most people have some immunity, a severe COVID infection can take its toll, just as the flu can. In particular, we know that COVID-19 virus really mounts a very exuberant inflammatory response.ĪUBREY: She says, among some of her patients, COVID can still be risky. Emily Lau, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.ĮMILY LAU: At the fundamental level, the real relationship between COVID-19 infection and cardiovascular disease risk is inflammation. Physicians say it can depend on the health of the patient and their preexisting conditions. And now that most of the population has some immunity from a combination of infection and vaccinations, the question is whether a COVID infection could still have such an effect on the cardiovascular system. Now, all of the people in the study died in the first year of the pandemic, in 2020 or 2021. He says the findings are significant and can help explain why people who have a buildup of fatty plaque in their blood vessels, which puts them at risk of heart attacks and strokes, may have increased risk after a severe COVID infection.ĬHARIS ANTONIADES: This is pretty important because if the plaque get inflamed because of the virus, then they get vulnerable.ĪUBREY: Vulnerable because the inflammation could cause the plaque to rupture or break off, which could lead to a heart attack or stroke. Charis Antoniades is chair of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Oxford. And the cells were less able to clear up the virus.ĪUBREY: Meaning the virus may persist in these cells. Chiara Giannarelli, a cardiologist at NYU.ĬHIARA GIANNARELLI: We were able to see that the virus is able to infect the vasculature in the heart that supplies the blood to the heart. They found direct evidence that the virus had infected cells in the blood vessels, specifically in plaque cells. Researchers at NYU analyzed the arteries of men and women who had died of severe COVID, all of whom had preexisting heart trouble. VA data is pretty robust.ĪUBREY: The question has been, why? A study published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research offers some clues. ![]() LESLIE COOPER: There are a number of data sets that show that cardiovascular complications, stroke and thromboembolism - meaning blood clots - are more common. ![]() ![]() Leslie Cooper, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, says several studies, including a VA study with more than 100,000 people, have pointed to a higher risk of heart attacks and more. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.ĪLLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Doctors first noticed the connection between COVID and cardiovascular problems early in the pandemic, especially among people with preexisting conditions. That could explain why some COVID patients may be at risk of heart attack or stroke in the months after their infection. A new study tells us that the virus that causes COVID can infect plaque cells in the arteries.
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