Mortality data of the past four years show a wave of deadly cardiovascular and metabolic illness.

From 2020 to 2022, a quarter of a million more Americans over 35 years old succumbed to cardiovascular disease than predicted based on historical trends, according to Bloomberg analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023, age-adjusted stroke mortality was almost 5% above pre-pandemic levels, according to preliminary data, while rates from deaths related to hypertensive heart disease, rhythm abnormalities, blood clots, diabetes and kidney failure were 15-28% higher. Covid had a muted impact on other common causes of death such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, the data show.

“The cardiometabolic aftereffects of SARS-CoV-2 have been profound, persistent, and peculiar — really peculiar,” said cardiologist Susan Cheng, director of public health research at Cedars-Sinai’s Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles.

frothingfash vaxxed?

Greater immunity and the emergence of less severe variants have since lowered the incidence of deadly complications, but the problem hasn’t gone away. Each coronavirus infection a person experiences, no matter how mild, might be acting like its own cardiovascular risk factor, she said. The longer-term effects are even more mysterious.

Doctors in the article are puzzled about if the cause is because Americans are too fat, or "the lockdowns" (not the hospitals being flooded with sick people for months at a time) caused people to avoid doctors, while noting that the healthcare system itself broke down and has made it harder for people to find care in the first place ever since. Could it be that these "less severe" variants are still causing heart problems? Gosh, maybe, but it's just a big ol' puzzle and no one can be sure of anything yet.

reddit-logo threads on this article are full of people describing the new heart conditions they developed after getting covid.

  • Hello_Kitty_enjoyer [none/use name]
    ·
    4 months ago

    IMO The problem is not really long-lasting damage, the problem is that you're susceptible to COVID and that this can happen to you again

    If you had long-lasting damage you'd probably know it, assuming you're concerned about it/keep a watchful eye/recognize that COVID is the cause of 80% of health problems since 2020 (which most people aren't)

    I think that the "damage" from COVID is largely reversible as long as the criteria of "not breathing in more COVID" is met. Obviously 99.9999999999% of people never fulfill this criteria (and most are unable to)

    I had those same exact symptoms btw. I'd bet money that you had variable POTS and temporary oxygen drops. Maybe also reduced urine content during the acute/early long-COVID phase.