Increase in heart ailments post COVID-19 era, say medicos
New Delhi: With doctors confirming that almost 30 per cent of COVID-19 patients coming to hospitals are developing heart ailments or coming with heart attacks, medical experts are requesting patients to not ignore chest pains or other signs related to the heart. Meanwhile, medical experts also point out that heart-related diseases have seen a considerable rise.
Doctors and healthcare experts point out that the delayed diagnosis and interruptions in treatment are resulting in many preventable deaths and a worsening prognosis for patients. "We have very little idea as to what kind of damage COVID infection may cause to our hearts, even if we do not have any heart ailment. Cardiomyopathy and heart failure related to COVID-19 may become routine and add to our existing burden of non-communicable diseases. COVID is a very dynamic situation and we will need more insights before we can list out the damages of this infection to our heart," Dr Aashish Aggarwal, Head of Department, Cardiology, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital said.
He added that there is some kind of inflammation to the heart in such cases. "We cannot say that these patients have permanent damage to the heart, however, for how long they are going to have the heart issues is yet to be discovered," he added.
Meanwhile, medical experts have pointed out that young people are becoming victims of cardiac arrest. "We are observing people as young as 32 coming to the hospital with cardiac arrest," a senior doctor at AIIMS said.
For non-COVID-19 patients, however, lifestyle is playing a major role in the number of increased heart cases. "During the pandemic, we have seen a rise in the complication of heart ailments. It's because of the fact that many patients have not consumed their prescribed heart medication and we observed an increase in the number of cases. There is no specific age for heart disease but due to our sedentary lifestyle, we have observed heart attacks as early as 22 years. But those who suffer from heart attacks early have one or many risk factors. Therefore, the best way to prevent heart attacks is to adopt a healthy lifestyle," Dr Sanjeev Gupta, Senior Cardiologist, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals said.
Dr Aggarwal, meanwhile, added that in COVID-19 patients, the unpredictability of the disease is the major reason for a stroke.