A recent large study published in Nature Medicine has shown that 12 months after covid survivors have a large increase in cardiac disease. 4.5% of covid survivors have one of a number of cardiac problems 12 months after covid diagnosis. 2.4% have suffered stroke, heart attack or death by 12 months.
By my calculations, in the US, this will translate to 3.5 million additional cases of cardiac disease and almost 2 million more heart attacks, strokes or deaths above the level expected without covid!! The number of permanently disabled people will increase by millions! This is based on 77 million cases of covid in the US, a number that will surely rise.
Science has an article summarizing and commenting on the study:
From very early in the pandemic, it was clear that SARS-CoV-2 can damage the heart and blood vessels while people are acutely ill. Patients developed clots, heart inflammation, arrythmias, and heart failure.
Now, the first large study to assess cardiovascular outcomes 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection has demonstrated that the virus’ impact is often lasting. In an analysis of more than 11 million U.S. veterans’ health records, researchers found the risk of 20 different heart and vessel maladies was substantially increased in veterans who had COVID-19 1 year earlier, compared with those who didn’t. The risk rose with severity of initial disease and extended to every outcome the team examined, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, strokes, cardiac arrest, and more. Even people who never went to the hospital had more cardiovascular disease than those who were never infected.
The results are “stunning … worse than I expected, for sure,” says Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Research.
https://www.science.org/content/article/covid-19-takes-serious-toll-heart-health-full-year-after-recovery
The Nature study is at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01689-3#MOESM1