Researchers are still determining just what the lasting health impact of COVID-19 is for seniors and those that are at higher risk of health issues after they have recovered from the virus.
A recent study analyzing data from the UK Biobank found that COVID-19 infection might increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and overall mortality for up to three years after the onset of infection. People with and without pre-existing cardiovascular conditions were both impacted by this. The research highlights that individuals who experienced severe COVID-19 requiring hospitalization faced the highest long-term risks. The elevated risk from COVID-19 was nearly as significant as that posed by established cardiovascular risk factors such as Type 2 diabetes and peripheral artery disease, according to the study’s authors. The team is based out of the University of Southern California.
People that had been hospitalized with complications from COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or die during the three years after their hospitalization. People who were hospitalized with COVID and no history of Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease were about 21 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or die than people that had heart disease, but no history of a COVID infection.
New research shows that a COVID infection might increase the risk of stroke and heart attack for at least three years.
Their findings were published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Past research has shown that COVID increases the risk of cardiovascular events for the first month after the infection. This research marks some of the first major efforts to look at how the virus will impact people over the long haul. It’s been less than five years since the virus first began to impact us all, so there’s a lot more that we still have to learn. Hopefully, this research continues to expand and help ensure that we get the care and attention that we need to stay happy and healthy as we all get older.
One area of future research that the team pointed to was how vaccines might impact people. The sample size that was examined was from 2020, prior to vaccines being accessible to the public. There’s a lot more research needed before we fully realize just how the virus will continue to impact us.
We have all felt the impact of the COVID pandemic in one way or another. Some of us have experienced extreme illness or loss in our families. Some of us dealt solely with the repercussions of quarantine and social isolation. But we were all impacted.
Seniors took the brunt of all of this. They still continue to deal with the repercussions of COVID today, many through ongoing health issues. If this is the case for you and your family, we’re happy to talk. We understand how difficult senior care can be on a family and complications like COVID can make it even tougher. We’re here to support you.
Please give us a call today to talk more about how in-home senior care can help your family members to thrive as they age, regardless of what issues that might be dealing with.
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