The Direct Impact of COVID-19 on Cardiovascular Disease
Certain heart conditions have long been recognized to result in severe illness following a COVID-19 infection. However, the impact that COVID-19 has on heart health and functioning post-infection is now beginning to be understood more clearly.
While it is not the latest news that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a strain on hospitals and public health infrastructures, more attention should be given to the impact these strains have on patients who have and are at risk for heart disease.
The Need for Public Heart Health Initiatives
- Building Healthy Communities
- Decrease Tobacco Use
- Decrease Physical Inactivity
- Decrease Particle Pollution Exposure
- Optimizing Care
- Improve Appropriate Aspirin or Anticoagulant Use
- Improve Blood Pressure Control
- Improve Cholesterol Management
- Improve Smoking Cessation
- Increase Use of Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Focusing on Health Equity
- Pregnant and Postpartum Women with Hypertension
- People from Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups
- People with Behavioral Health Issues Who Use Tobacco
- People With Lower Incomes
- People Who Live in Rural Areas or Other ‘Access Deserts’
Healthcare leaders and local health departments play a critical role in developing local-level strategies. These initiatives enhance policy, systems, and the environment to minimize cardiovascular disease risk factors and health inequities through community and healthcare interventions.
Don’t miss a beat
Are you struggling to determine your community’s needs, or do you have a plan but lack the experts and workforce to execute? We are here to help. We have the qualifications required to ensure your healthcare programs’ successful development, implementation, and ongoing performance.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- World Health Organization (2019). Cardiovascular diseases. [online] Who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases#tab=tab_1.
- Xie, Y., Xu, E., Bowe, B. and Al-Aly, Z. (2022). Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19. Nature Medicine, [online] pp.1–8. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01689-3 [Accessed 9 Feb. 2022].
- www.hopkinsmedicine.org. (n.d.). Heart Problems after COVID-19. [online] Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/heart-problems-after-covid19
- Ahmad, F.B. and Anderson, R.N. (2021). The leading causes of death in the US for 2020. JAMA, [online] 325(18). Available at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2778234.
- American College of Cardiology. (n.d.). COVID-19 Pandemic Indirectly Disrupted Heart Disease Care. [online] Available at: https://www.acc.org/about-acc/press-releases/2021/01/11/16/40/covid19-pandemic-indirectly-disrupted-heart-disease-care.
- French, G. (2021). Impact of Hospital Strain on Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, July 2020–July 2021. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, [online] 70. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7046a5.htm?s_cid=mm7046a5_w.
- CDC (2020). Million Hearts®. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/.
By: Erik McLaughlin MD, MPH and Aikaterini Papadopoulou, B.Arch
