I’m still taking COVID seriously, and so should you

The major finding was that people with COVID-19 have a higher risk of all sorts of heart problems at one year. That included arrhythmias (irregular heart beats or the heart beating too fast or too slow) and atrial fibrillation (a fast heart rhythm in a particular pattern). We found evidence of an increased risk of stroke, of blood clots in the legs and the lungs, and of heart failure and heart attacks. The increased risk of a broad spectrum of heart problems was evident. 

I went into it thinking that [the risk] was going to be most pronounced and evident in people who smoked a lot or had diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, or some [other] risk factors. What we found is that even in people who did not have any heart problems start with, were athletic, did not have a high BMI, were not obese, did not smoke, did not have kidney disease or diabetes—even in people who were previously healthy and had no risk factors or problems with the heart—COVID-19 affected them in such a way that manifested the higher risk of heart problems than people who did not get COVID-19.

COVID and the Heart: It Spares No One | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health

There’s just so much we don’t know! This study was done before vaccinations were widespread, so hopefully that will help. But we just don’t know.

I’m puzzled by the fact that people have seemingly just decided the pandemic is over.


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