Heart disease deaths up amid pandemic
A recent study found the COVID-19 pandemic has had an indirect impact on heart disease patients and led to increased heart disease deaths and reduced diagnoses.
During a virtual community health forum on Wednesday evening, cardiac care leaders with the Providence Heart Institute at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka underscored the need for proactive care when it comes to heart health.
According to an article by the American College of Cardiology citing data from a National Center for Health Statistics study, “Deaths from ischemic heart disease and hypertensive diseases in the United States increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Many reports have suggested that large mortality increases during the pandemic cannot be explained by COVID-19 alone,” the article said. “During the height of stay-at-home orders in the U.S., hospitals reported a decline in the number of heart attack and stroke patients being diagnosed and treated at the hospital. The assumption was that some patients feared contracting COVID-19 at a hospital and were choosing to delay care or not seek care at all for emergencies, including heart attacks.”
St. Joseph Hospital chief executive Roberta Luskin-Hawk stressed the importance of having robust cardiac care in rural communities.
“We’re in our beautiful remote location and we need to be able to respond to an emergency, save lives, give people health care, peace of mind and improve quality of life,” she said.
Luskin-Hawk shared a video from Wayne Caldwell, a community member who said St. Joseph’s cardiac team saved his life.
“I was on this great property working hard and felt pretty good but had a little what I thought was indigestion. Very quickly I was in the house, fortunately, and passed out on the rug,” Caldwell recounted. Someone in the house called 911 and Caldwell was taken to St. Joseph Hospital.
“The cardiologist, once they got in there — I only had about 30% blockage in general so it never showed up — and a little flap broke off and it went from 30% to 100%,”
“A percentage of patients can develop an inflammation of the heart and that can lead to heart dysfunction, heart enlargement and even increased risk of mortality.” — Dr. David Philips, MD, medical director of cardiology at St. Joseph Hospital
Caldwell said. “The thing that still shocks me is the doctor said we had about 10 minutes left and if they hadn’t gotten me in there, I might not have made it. Fundamentally, they saved my life.”
Corinna Cooper, RN, BSN, director of cardiovascular services said Caldwell is a close family friend and she was working the day he was admitted.
“When I got the name, the feelings inside of my heart just sank,” Cooper said. “Then to see this video this week was very touching to me.”
Cooper described the different methods of testing cardiovascular services offers. She also underscored the importance of calling an ambulance when experiencing chest pain rather than driving oneself to the hospital.
“A lot of things can happen in the short amount of minutes that it can take you to get to the hospital,” Cooper said. “When you come by ambulance, you’re just triaged differently and you’ll come right into the emergency room differently with chest pain. By law, if you call an ambulance, they have to take you to the nearest facility (with a STEMI designation).” Cooper pointed out that Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna and Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata do not have STEMI designation.
“If you’re in that area, they don’t have cardiac care. When you’re having a heart attack, time is muscle and if they have to stop at those hospitals then your heart muscle is dying and we need to get you to our facility as fast as we can,” she said.
During a Q&A, one community member asked if there is any evidence COVID-19 can cause heart damage.
“A percentage of patients can develop an inflammation of the heart and that can lead to heart dysfunction, heart enlargement and even increased risk of mortality,” said Dr. David Philips, MD, medical director of cardiology at St. Joseph Hospital. “The COVID virus has also been associated with the increased risk of clotting so that potentially can increase your risk of sudden heart attacks and strokes.”
Luskin-Hawk added that medical professionals have seen “excessive immune activation and clotting disorders” associated with COVID-19.
“We’ve seen an increased risk of progression of COVID in patients with high blood pressure, hypertension,” she said. “It’s a good time to plug the COVID vaccine, we’re seeing some really important reduction in cases in the presence of vaccine, even in the elderly.”