A new and unnerving addition to Covid-19 symptoms was recently brought to light: despite the fact that it is considered an illness of the lungs, many patients who are infected with the novel coronavirus experience cardiac issues. The findings suggest that 1 in 5 patients show signs of heart injury, regardless of whether or not they had respiratory symptoms. Many of these patients had underlying cardiovascular issues prior to contracting Covid-19 but they do not outnumber the patients who were otherwise healthy, yet developed heart problems including blood vessel injuries, blood clots, arrhythmia, strokes, and heart attacks.
These numbers have baffled physicians and health experts, but it seems a new study that was published in the journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine has some of the answers. The main reasons that coronavirus leads to heart conditions are the widespread inflammation the infection causes, the possibility that the virus directly infects and injures the cardiovascular system, and the overall stress the infection puts on preexisting heart conditions.
It is important to note that like many other coronavirus related studies, more research is needed to draw concrete conclusions, and verify exactly how the coronavirus affects heart function, and which patients with COVID-19 are most at risk for running into heart troubles.
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There is a risk that the coronavirus attacks cells in the cardiovascular system itself, through a receptor called ACE2. “Once inside the heart cell, damage to the cellular machinery directly from the virus and the human immune cell response leads to cell dysfunction and cellular death,” explained Dr. Jack Wolfson, a cardiologist and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
A similar process was observed in the early 2000s in patients infected with SARS, a disease caused by a different coronavirus.
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