It has been a long time since the world has seen a public health event like the Covid-19 pandemic. As the virus and associated disease have spread across the globe, the impact has been felt by nearly all of mankind. This has been an incredible event to be sure, and many people are still coming to grips with how it is going to affect their life over the long run.
One issue that you may have considered as part of this situation is how contracting this novel coronavirus could affect your heart health. Of course, with something that is so new, there are more questions than answers at this early stage. However, we can take a look at this topic for some indication of what it might mean for your heart if you do wind up with Covid-19.
Before we go any further, it’s important to point out that prevention is always the best approach when it comes to your health. If you can follow your local guidelines for how to behave during the pandemic, you may be able to reduce your chances of contracting the disease. Not only will this be good for your own personal health, but you can also do your part to slow the spread and keep others healthy.
Not Just the Lungs
If you follow the news closely, or if you know someone in your life who has been impacted by this disease, you may know that the primary concern is what it can do to an individual’s lungs. What that is certainly a major issue, doctors are also finding that there may be an additional risk of cardiac injury, as well.
Unfortunately, it’s not only those who have preexisting heart conditions who need to worry, but also those who don’t currently have any known heart problems at all. Those with an existing heart condition are certainly at risk, and those without heart disease may incur some degree of injury to the heart if they contract the disease. The early research into the health outcomes of those who contract Covid-19 indicates that those with existing cardiac health problems experienced a far higher mortality rate than those without.
A Known Pattern
For doctors, the fact that Covid-19 can lead to heart damage isn’t particularly surprising. After all, there are other respiratory illnesses that go around on a seasonal basis, and those too can lead to heart-related issues. Of course, that doesn’t lessen the importance of this issue, or the concern on the minds of those with heart troubles. Given the widespread nature of this outbreak, millions of people have been put at risk – especially those with preexisting heart conditions.
Doing Your Part
There is nothing you can do on an individual level about the virus that has spread around the globe – this is an event that affects the entire population. With that said, you can do your part to protect your health in a number of ways. First, you’ll want to follow all distancing guidelines and keep up to date with recommendations specific to your area. Simply put, limiting your contact with other humans is one of your best defenses in this situation.
Also, you can do a good job of keeping up with other vaccinations. While it is Covid-19 that has captured all of the headlines, there are still other threats to your health out there. Vaccinating yourself against some of the other commonly seen viruses will at least offer you a measure of protection. Keep in touch with your healthcare provider during these times and stay on track with your overall care so you can position yourself to hopefully stay healthy through this pandemic and beyond.
Give Us a Call Today
At Beverly Hills Cardiovascular, we are proud to provide care to patients from around Southern California. If you would like to schedule an appointment, or if you would like to learn more about our services, please get in touch at your convenience. We are able to offer many services, including cardioversion, treadmill exercise stress test, cardiac catherization, and more. Thank you for stopping by!
