“Heart disease and Covid are closely related. If you remove the ‘O’ and ‘I’, Covid becomes CVD. Covid-19 is like a stress test for the heart,” said Dr. Ramakanta. Panda, cardiac surgeon and head of the Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, told IANS.
“Covid affects the heart in 20% of cases,” adds Dr Bipin Kumar Dubey, Head and Consultant, Cardiology, HCMCT Manipal Hospital, New Delhi.
Cardiologists explain that Covid affects the heart in two ways: first it clogs the coronary arteries, second it leads to weakening of the heart muscle.
For those already congested, Covid can cause a complete blockage. In places where there is no blockage, a sudden blood clot can form, leading to a heart attack.
In cases where the heart muscles are weak, they are unable to pump blood, the patient has difficulty breathing and increases the risk of a seizure.
Usually, Covid causes heart diseases in people over 60 years of age and with some form of blockage in their body, or co-morbidities such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes or smokers.
However, Dubey notes: “Over the last few days, I have seen asymptomatic patients come in, complain of pain, and then have a heart attack.
“It doesn’t depend on the severity of Covid. Even asymptomatic patients can have heart attacks and heart-related problems.”
Even a mild case of Covid-19 can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular problems for at least a year after diagnosis, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature. Natural medicine.
The researchers found that the rates of many diseases, such as heart failure and stroke, were essentially significantly higher in people who had recovered from Covid than in similar people who did not.
“The logic is simple: Covid is known to affect the lungs. The air we breathe contains oxygen and goes to the lungs. When the lungs are not doing their job, the heart becomes stressed and has to work harder. This increases the demand for said Panda.
He said that Covid revealed silent heart symptoms in people with previously undiagnosed heart conditions.
Furthermore, Panda noted that certain chemicals are secreted by the body to fight the Covid virus.
These substances can also weaken the heart muscle, causing blood clots in infected patients, he said. Therefore, Covid-19 can also manifest itself as heart disease.
Source: IANS
