Covid-19 blamed for increase in heart attacks

Infection may also up the chance of a stroke and explain the rise in cardiovascular disease around the world, say researchers

Researchers found the risk increased for people who had been hospitalised with Covid-19. Getty Images

Having Covid-19 raises the risk of heart attack and stroke as much as having clogged arteries or Type 2 diabetes, a new study has found.

Researchers found the infection appears to increase the chance of heart attack, stroke and death from any cause for up to three years, and may provide an explanation for a rise in cardiovascular disease around the world, they said. The risk is worse among those who were hospitalised for the infection.

“We found a long-term cardiovascular health risk associated with Covid, especially among people with more severe Covid-19 cases that required hospitalisation,” said lead study author James Hilser, a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

“This increased risk of heart attack and stroke continued three years after Covid-19 infection. Remarkably, in some cases, the increased risk was almost as high as having a known cardiovascular risk factor such as Type 2 diabetes or peripheral artery disease.”

Previous studies have shown Covid raises the likelihood of serious cardiovascular complications for the first month after infection. The researchers wanted to know how long that risk lasted, so they analysed data in the UK Biobank for adults who suffered mild to severe Covid before vaccines were available, tracking their health over a three-year follow-up period.

They included more than 10,000 people, 8,000 of whom had tested positive for the virus from February 1 to December 31, 2020. The researchers compared them with a group of 200,000 adults that had no record of a Covid infection in the same time frame.

The research found that during a three-year follow-up period, the risk of heart attack, stroke and death was more than twice as high among those who had Covid-19, and almost four times greater among adults who had been hospitalised with the condition, compared to those who did not catch the virus.

People hospitalised with Covid-19, without cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes, had a 21 per cent greater risk of heart attack, stroke and death compared to people with cardiovascular disease who did not catch the virus.

There was also a “significant” relationship with blood type. Among those who suffered severe Covid-19 infections, the risk of a heart attack or stroke was about 65 per cent higher in people with blood types A, B or AB, or “non-O blood types”.

“Worldwide, over a billion people have already experienced Covid-19 infection. The findings reported are not a small effect in a small subgroup,” said co-senior study author Dr Stanley Hazen, chair of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute and co-section head of preventive cardiology.

“The results included nearly a quarter million people and point to a finding of global health care importance that may translate into an explanation for a rise in cardiovascular disease around the world.”