Since the Covid-19 pandemic began spreading around the world in 2020, there has been a great deal of research conducted into the virus’ long-term effects on our health, including our heart health.
For example, we recently shared the findings of a collaborative study conducted in the US, which explored the link between Covid-19 and heart disease in professional athletes. This research found that just five of the almost 800 professional athletes who tested positive for Covid-19 went on to develop serious heart diseases.
While this is encouraging news, chair of the Mayo Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine Dr Leslie Cooper recently told HCP Live that scientists need longer to truly understand any potential links between Covid-19 and heart conditions such as myocarditis.
He explained that one study published earlier this year found abnormalities in cardiac imaging and, although it is not myocarditis, it could still lead to health complications.
“We do not know what the something is. It could be an edema, extra fluid from leaky blood vessels. We also don’t know the clinical impact. Do you get a higher risk of death, or higher risk of heart failure if you exercise following Covid-19,” Dr Cooper said.
To answer these questions, scientists and researchers need more long-term data and while many are hopeful that Covid-19 won’t lead to a significant increase in myocarditis and other cardiac conditions, they also urge caution until this data is available.
You can support a myocarditis charity in the UK to help our life-saving work and raise awareness of this potentially fatal heart condition.
