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Earlier reports have highlighted that COVID-19 increases the risk of heart attack and disease.

“Does COVID affect heart patients more severely?”

It is a question worrisome to many of us because heart and cardiovascular diseases are so common now that everyone has some heart patient in their family or friend circle. The modern lifestyle has also increased cardiovascular risk factors. The fear of a global pandemic and the severity of illness has developed a grave concern in people's minds. Everyone is concerned about whether I have recovered, suffered, or been predisposed to COVID infection or not. The development of COVID signs in vaccinated and healthy people has added more fuel to the fire in people's anxiety. In this state of chaos, the people who are and should be concerned the most are heart patients and people previously suffering from lung disease. 

If you are more interested in an overview of COVID-19, then read our comprehensive guide written by Dr. Williams, which includes symptoms, causes and testing for COVID-19. 

There are two questions needed to be addressed here

1. Do heart diseases make people more prone to getting severely affected by COVID? We will discuss it in detail in this article. And

2. “Does COVID-19 infection increase the risk of heart disease?” The answer is "a firm YES ." Here I tell you why.

“Does COVID infection increase the risk of heart disease?”

According to a study, the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases e.g., a heart attack is raised by 64% in COVID patients after recovery compared to non-patients. Even people with mild COVID infection have a 39% higher risk of getting heart or vascular disease compared to non-infected people. This rise in the risk of cardiovascular disease can be explained based on the following findings.

Direct damage to the blood vessels

SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) directly infects the blood vessels and injures their internal lining. Blood vessels have ACE-II receptors to which the COVID virus can bind and infect the inner lining cells. After the virus replicates in these cells, it damages and breaks them off, causing intravascular injury. This raises the risk of clot formation in the blood, which can be fatal. This factor could be the cause of the increased risk of coronary heart disease in COVID-19 patients.

Direct damage to the heart

SARS-COV-2, besides the vascular injury, tends to infect heart muscles causing myocarditis, i.e., inflammation of heart walls. This could be dangerous for people who have a higher risk of heart disease and heart failure. People already predisposed to the risk factors can develop more severe diseases.

Cytokine storm

When the virus infects the lungs, the body's immune system reacts and produces a series of chemicals to kill the virus or call the immune cells for help. Some of these chemicals are also produced by damaged and dying cells. These chemicals are called cytokines. In some people, the immune system attack is so severe and rapid that it leads to the production of vast quantities of cytokines called “Cytokine Storm". These cytokines not only kill the virus but also damage the normal tissue in the lungs and other organs, including the heart, as the heart is nearest and most closely connected to the lungs.

So, the virus not only destroys your heart health, it can compromise the functions of various other organs.

Blood clots

SARS-COV-2 infected people tend to develop more blood clots and remember that blood clots are always dangerous. These clots will block the supply of blood to the heart muscles leading to heart attacks. Even a weak heart muscle will not be able to pump sufficient blood.

Do heart diseases make people more prone to getting severely affected by COVID?

As the 1st question is concerned, we split it into two parts and discuss them separately. Let us clarify that “to be infected with COVID” and “to develop signs and symptoms of disease” are two different things.

All people have an equal chance of getting infected because the route of infection of COVID has nothing to do with the blood or heart. COVID is transmitted from one person to another via inhalation of coughed or sneezed droplets into the lungs or indirectly through contaminated surfaces. So, the answer to the first part of the question, i.e., “Are people with heart disease more likely to be infected with COVID?” is “NO, THEY ARE NOT; EVERYONE HAS AN EQUAL CHANCE TO GET INFECTED."

The second part is “Are heart patients more likely to develop severe signs of COVID after infection?" The answer is a YES. The symptoms of severe COVID disease include high fever, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest pain and tightness, severe cough, and aches and pains in the body. Tiredness, loss of taste and smell, and headache are less serious symptoms. Suppose a person is feeling difficult or forced breathing, chest pain, confusion, and loss of mobility. In that case, they are seriously ill and need intensive hospital care immediately.

As COVID resides and damages the lungs and blood vessels in the lungs, the supply of oxygen in the body is decreased. Patients with underlying heart or vascular diseases like hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, etc..., have an already compromised oxygen supply to the body due to malfunctioning heart or blood issues. In these conditions, infections with COVID will more severely affect their bodies, and they are more likely to develop severe symptoms of the disease. Many of them are hospitalised as well. Thus heart diseases, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and blood-related illnesses add up to the COVID infection and play a major role in developing symptoms of COVID.

Who else is at higher risk of severe COVID symptoms

From the above discussion, it is clear that prior heart issues make a person more vulnerable to the severity of COVID. Still, it doesn't mean that a person developing the symptoms of COVID is always a heart patient. The virus enters and leaves the body of most healthy people without causing any symptoms. Those who develop the signs are immunocompromised, i.e., their immune system is not working efficiently in fighting the invading virus.

Data and reports indicate that not only people with heart issues are at high risk of being severely affected by COVID. Also, people with other medical illnesses such as asthma, kidney disease, diabetes, chronic hypertension, obesity, and hypersensitive people are at higher risk to develop more severe signs of COVID. Moreover, people of advanced age, young children, people with airway abnormalities, pregnant women, and people using other medications are at higher risk compared to the average healthy person.

End note

The take-home message of this article is that anyone can be infected with COVID, but the symptoms are likely to be more obvious and severe in people with underlying heart disease and other medical conditions. The coronavirus also negatively impacts long-term cardiovascular outcomes by damaging the heart and blood vessels.

Also, COVID infection itself severely affects the function of the heart. So, COVID-19 patients may be developing cardiovascular disease more frequently.

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