Even mild COVID-19 cases can significantly increase a person's risk of developing a heart problems up to one year later, a new study finds.
A joint research team from Washington University in St Louis and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), St Louis Health Care System in Missouri investigated the likelihood of developing a condition in the 12 months following a Covid diagnosis.
They found people with cases of the virus that did not require hospitalization had a 39 percent increased risk of suffering from heart failure and were 24 percent more likely to have a stroke compared to someone who never had Covid.
People with mild COVID-19 cases are also 119 percent more likely to develop a pulmonary embolism - a type of blood clot - and 277 percent more likely to suffer from heart inflammation.
People who suffer mild cases of COVID-19 that do not require hospitalization are still at an increased risk of developing serious complications like heart failure (39% increased risk), stroke (24%) or a pulmonary embolism (119%), a new study finds
Those who do require hospitalization or even intensive care during their bout with the virus are at an even higher risk to develop these severe conditions over the next year, including a 2,426% increased chance to develop a pulmonary embolism and a 2,774% increased chance to suffer cardiac arrest
Cases that do require hospitalization, or even intensive medical care, often lead to a higher risk of developing these conditions.
Data from the preprint study was made available by Research Square on Tuesday, and is pending peer review before full publication in the journal Nature.
The research presents the worrying prospect that more Americans may be at risk for serious medical issues than believed, and that the nation could face a further health crisis in the future.
'The aftereffects of Covid-19 are substantial,' Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, lead author and director of the clinical epidemiology center at the VA St Louis in, told Bloomberg.
'Governments and health systems must wake up to the reality that Covid will cast a tall shadow in the form of long Covid, and has devastating consequences. I am concerned that we are not taking this seriously enough.'
'Long Covid' is a term used
