Severe COIVD-19 infection can cause heart damage
2020 (Eleventh) International Conference on Cell Therapy
March 28, 2020 / Bio Valley BIOON / --- It is well known that COIVD-19 infection can cause respiratory diseases, but it is now clear that some seriously ill patients will also suffer from heart damage, which may greatly increase their death risk.
In a recent study, the researchers found that of the 416 patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 infection, almost 20% of patients had myocardial damage. More than half of these patients eventually died.
The researchers warn that heart disease is common among patients with COVID-19, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure. A recent study found that 12% of hospitalized patients suffer from complications.
These latest findings were published by the research team led by Dr. Yang Bo of Wuhan University People's Hospital in the Journal of the American Medical Association on March 25. This finding indicates that heart disease patients may face an "unexpected" high risk of death.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for those living in communities where the COVID-19 outbreak has broken out, this means staying at home as much as possible. At the same time, all high-risk groups should wash their hands frequently, disinfect their daily contact surfaces, and take "social distance" seriously when going out.
However, whether high blood pressure patients may also belong to high-risk groups is unknown. Dr. Elliott Antman, former president of the American Heart Association and senior physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said: "This is an important issue and is the idea of many people."
Of the 82 heart disease patients in this study, 60% had hypertension. Approximately 30% of people have previously been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, and nearly 15% have chronic heart failure. Antman said that it is difficult to determine whether high blood pressure alone is accompanied by an increased risk of heart disease without other health problems. In addition, he said, there is currently no information on whether the patient's hypertension is controlled by drugs.
According to this study, only 51% of patients suffering from heart damage died in hospital. In contrast, only 4.5% of people without heart disease. However, it is not certain that cardiac complications are actually the cause of these deaths. He explained: "These patients all have very serious infections."
Why does coronavirus cause damage to the heart of some patients? No one is sure yet, but there are some hypotheses. One hypothesis suggests that this comes from the immune system's response to coronavirus. If the immune response is out of control, it will damage human organs in the so-called "cytokine storm." The second possibility is that in people who already have heart disease, the overall pressure of infection can damage the heart muscle. The last possibility is that the new coronavirus may directly invade the heart. The researchers say the virus recognizes ACE2 receptor molecules on the surface of human cells very efficiently. These receptors exist not only in the lungs, but also in other parts of the body, including the heart and digestive tract.
It has been speculated that common blood pressure drugs-ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers-may make people more susceptible to COVID-19. Based on animal studies, the drug can enhance the activity of the ACE2 receptor. However, we cannot stop taking the medicine rashly, otherwise it will bring serious life threatening.