### Long-Term Cardiac Risks of COVID-19 Revealed in Large-Scale Study

A recent extensive study utilizing data from the U.K. Biobank system has brought to light alarming long-term cardiac risks associated with COVID-19. The investigation, which considered the health records of nearly a quarter-million adults, indicates that individuals infected with COVID-19 during 2020 are facing significantly heightened risks of major cardiovascular events in the ensuing three years.

The research, published in the American Heart Association's journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, paints a stark picture: those who contracted COVID-19 in 2020 doubled their likelihood of experiencing a heart attack, stroke, or death within three years compared to those who remained uninfected. The risk is substantially higher—nearly fourfold—for individuals whose illness was severe enough to necessitate hospitalization.

David Putrino, director of the Cohen Center for Recovery from Complex Chronic Illness at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, underscored the gravity of these findings. "These results suggest our current public health policies regarding COVID-19 are insufficient. People need to be informed about the long-term health risks posed by SARS-CoV-2," he stated.

Analyzing data from over 8,000 adults who tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020, including about 2,000 who were hospitalized, researchers compared their health outcomes to nearly 220,000 adults who did not contract COVID-19. The study discovered that the elevated risk of cardiac events did not diminish over the three-year period, signifying a persistent threat.

Stanley Hazen, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences at the Cleveland Clinic, noted, "The two-fold increased risk observed in the first year post-infection persisted into the second and third years, regardless of age, sex, or preexisting cardiac risk factors." This worrisome tendency was even more pronounced in those without known heart disease hospitalized due to COVID-19, equating their risk to individuals with a history of heart conditions but who never contracted the virus.

Hooman Allayee, principal investigator of the study and a professor at USC's Keck School of Medicine, emphasized, "Severe COVID is just as detrimental to heart health as pre-existing heart disease."

A critical limitation of the study is that all subjects were unvaccinated at the time of their infection, as COVID-19 vaccines were unavailable in 2020. Hazen and other experts believe vaccination could potentially mitigate these risks by preventing the severity of infections.

Research suggests COVID-19 may increase cardiovascular risks through inflammation of blood vessel endothelial cells, activation of the complement system, propensity for clot formation, and plaque destabilization in coronary arteries—a connection strongly supported by these latest findings.

The study also revealed that genetics might play a role. Specifically, hospitalization for COVID-19 doubled the cardiac risks for individuals with blood types A, B, and AB, but not for those with type O.

Reflecting on the study's implications, Sandeep Das of the American Heart Association's COVID-19 CVD Registry committee emphasized, "People need to consider their long-term health risks which may necessitate lifestyle changes and preventive measures, including vaccination."

This comprehensive study highlights the ongoing risk COVID-19 poses to cardiovascular health and advocates for heightened preventive strategies to combat this persistent threat.