For sure. My best friend growing up is a heart doctor. He's said it's been a mess since covid.
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Chest pain, shortness of breath and palpitations can persist after COVID-19. Are they heart related? A cardiologist provides perspective.
www.hopkinsmedicine.org
Can COVID-19 damage the heart?
Yes: Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory or lung disease, the heart can also suffer.
Temporary or lasting damage to heart tissue can be due to several factors:
Lack of oxygen. As the virus causes inflammation and fluid to fill up the air sacs in the lungs, less oxygen can reach the bloodstream. The heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body, which can be dangerous in people with preexisting heart disease. The heart can fail from overwork, or insufficient oxygen can cause cell death and tissue damage in the heart and other organs.
Myocarditis: inflammation of the heart. The coronavirus may infect and damage the heart’s muscle tissue directly, as is possible with other viral infections, including some strains of the flu. The heart may also become damaged and inflamed indirectly by the body’s own immune system response.
Coronavirus infection also affects the inner surfaces of veins and arteries, which can cause blood vessel inflammation, damage to very small vessels and blood clots, all of which can compromise blood flow to the heart or other parts of the body. “Severe COVID-19 is a disease that affects endothelial cells, which form the lining of the blood vessels,” Post says.
Stress cardiomyopathy. Viral infections can cause
cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disorder that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. When attacked by a virus, the body undergoes stress and releases a surge of chemicals called catecholamines, which can stun the heart. Once the infection resolves, the stressor has ended and the heart can recover.
Cytokine Storm: A Serious Coronavirus Complication
Most serious of all, Gilotra says, is the possibility of the immune system launching an attack on the invading virus that is so severe that it destroys healthy tissues.
When responding to infection with the coronavirus, the body releases a flood of proteins called cytokines that help cells communicate with one another and fight the invaders.
In some people, perhaps due to a genetic difference, this normal defensive event is exaggerated, leaving them vulnerable to a
cytokine storm. In a cytokine storm, the immune system response causes inflammation that can overwhelm the body, destroying healthy tissue and damaging organs such as the kidneys, liver and heart.
A cytokine storm and its resulting heart damage can also affect the heart’s rhythm. “Serious ventricular arrhythmias due to a cytokine storm can be catastrophic,” Gilotra says.
A cytokine storm is difficult to survive. Current research is exploring the possible benefit of using immune-suppressing drugs to treat patients with COVID-19 who experience this serious complication.