Long COVID linked to increased risk for heart disease

Individuals who experience long COVID-19 are at a higher risk for cardiovascular and other health issues, according to a new study.

The findings showed that the chance of patients dying was doubled in those who experienced lingering symptoms from the disease. The report, published Friday by the Journal of the American Medical Association, studied over 13,000 adults with post-COVID-19 condition — also known as PCC — and compared them to over 26,000 adults without COVID over a one-year period.

The study defined PCC as an illness in people “having new, returning, or ongoing health issues occurring more than 4 weeks after onset of initial infection.” The CDC says people with such symptoms make up somewhere between 10% and 25% of those infected.

People with PCC can experience symptoms for as long as two years after infection — meaning they’ve essentially had symptoms for as long as COVID has been around.

In this study, people with PCC were also found to be twice as likely to experience issues such as arrhythmia, stroke, heart failure and coronary artery disease.

Lung conditions cropped up as well. The risk of pulmonary embolism more than tripled for those with PCC, while moderate or severe asthma nearly doubled.

“We know from published literature that long Covid can result in fatigue, headache and attention disorder,” Dr. Andrea DeVries, Staff Vice President for Health Services Research at Elevance Health and the lead author of the study, told CNN.

“While those conditions are concerning, the results from this study point to even more worrisome outcomes that can severely impact quality and length of life for individuals with long Covid,” DeVries added.

The conclusion of the study called for continued monitoring of individuals who had experienced PCC, specifically in regards to “cardiovascular and pulmonary management.”