Science: Coronavirus can also damage a healthy heart
Scientists are still studying the impact of the coronavirus on the human body and the reasons that make it so deadly.
According to a survey by the Cleveland Clinic more than half of respondents did not know that COVID-19 brings heart effects and about 70 percent did not know that high blood pressure increases the risk in those infected.
Cardiologists already know that people with heart problems have a higher risk for serious complications if they become infected with COVID-19. But many people do not know such a thing.
"Many people know that it affects the lungs, but it can also affect the heart, its pumping function, the mechanism of blood clotting. "All of this can pose a very high risk for cardiovascular problems." Samir Kapadia of the Cleveland Clinic.
Coronavirus can also damage a healthy heart, even in people who show no symptoms if they are infected.
"Patients, who probably had a viral infection of which they were unaware, showed symptoms of a heart attack several months or years later. "So there could be a long-term complication in the health of patients who have been affected by COVID-19," says Dr. Allen Anderson, of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
He adds that this has also happened to some patients who had a healthy heart before being affected by the coronavirus.
"They had an increase in blood enzymes which was similar to a heart attack even though they had no coronary artery blockage. "They have a wide range of heart rhythm disorders," said Allen Anderson of the University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center.
According to Dr. Kapadias stress also plays a role.
"People who are scared, those who experience irritation, the data show that both of these can lead to the stimulation of blood clotting mechanisms and can cause heart attack," says Dr. Samir Kapadia, of the Cleveland Clinic.
Some of the heart damage according to doctors can be cured, but some not, and it can lead to death.
At the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, researchers are testing an antibiotic and a cure for diabetes.
They want to see if these drugs can prevent heart damage in patients with COVID.
Antibiotics fight bacterial infections, but they do not work on viruses like COVID-19.
Inside our cells are some tiny, bean-shaped parts called mitochondria.
Mitochondria produce energy and guide many of our body functions, including the heartbeat.
Scientists believe that mitochondria evolved from a type of bacterium, so the antibiotic could protect them from the coronavirus, and mitochondria on the other hand would protect the heart. The diabetes medicine being tested also helps the mitochondria continue to produce energy.
Researchers hope to begin clinical trials with those who have been cured of the coronavirus, so that doctors can see if the hearts of those who have been tested are functioning normally long after they have recovered from COVID-19.
