In a study from Duke University, scientists found people hospitalized for COVID-19 were more likely to have heart failure after their discharge than those hospitalized for another reason.
The findings support a growing body of research that suggests some people infected with COVID-19 go on to develop long-term heart problems.
In the study, the team used health records of more than 580,000 patients admitted to U.S. hospitals.
They tracked how often those who had COVID went to the hospital for heart issues in the year after their discharge.
They found the COVID group was 45% more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure when compared to patients hospitalized with something other than COVID.
The team says they can’t say that COVID-19 causes heart failure—only that it’s associated.
Not everyone is convinced the findings point to a severe side effect of COVID.
There may be too many other factors that could explain the link between a COVID hospitalization and heart failure.
For example, people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 likely had pre-existing health conditions that could also explain why they went on to develop heart failure.
Those hospitalized for a non-COVID problem don’t necessarily have those same chronic health problems if they were in the hospital for a minor procedure like gallbladder surgery.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about face masks that can capture and deactivate the COVID-19 virus, and this drug combo may treat COVID-19 effectively.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about how to live with heart failure, and results showing flu, COVID-19, and related vaccines may increase heart disease risk.
The study was conducted by Dr. Marat Fudim et al and published in Nature Communications.
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