Are Men at Higher Risk of Heart Problems After Severe COVID-19 Infection?
Men suffer a wide range of heart problems even after COVID-19 recovery, reports a new study.
COVID-19 typically presents as a respiratory illness, but cardiovascular complications such as an irregular heart beat (arrhythmia), lack of blood flow to the brain (stroke) and heart failure are also reported in some patients. Men typically have worse outcomes from COVID-19 than women. As pre-existing cardiovascular disease is a known risk factor for severe COVID-19, and has a higher incidence in men, it has been proposed as a possible explanation for these differences.
Men or Women: Who is at High Risk of COVID-19 Complications?
Dr. Carinna Hockham at The George Institute for Global Health, UK, in partnership with Imperial College London, who led the research, said, "Our research aimed to understand whether sex differences in COVID-19 severity - including risk of death - and in cardiovascular complications, were explained by the higher prevalence of pre-existing cardiovascular disease in men compared to women."‘COVID-19, being a respiratory disease that affects the lungs can worsen the hearts of men too.’
The study analyzed 11,167 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 between May 2020 and May 2021 across 13 countries. The team found that 13 of every 100 women and 17 of every 100 men developed some form of cardiovascular complication during their hospital admission, representing a 30% lower risk in women.
Arrhythmia was the most common cardiovascular complication. 5 out of every 100 women and 8 out of every 100 men had these complications. Other complications, such as cardiac ischemia and pulmonary embolism, were less common.
Researchers found that differences between men and women in rates of cardiovascular complications were evident regardless of whether they had pre-existing cardiovascular disease. They argued that the results not only have implications for the overall understanding of sex differences in health and disease, but also demonstrate the critical importance of considering sex and gender differences across all aspects of human health.
Hockham said: "Our finding that the so-called �male disadvantage' in severity of COVID-19 cannot solely be explained by pre-existing cardiovascular disease burden indicates that other factors are contributing to disease severity. Further research is needed to better understand why men are at higher risk of severe COVID-19, including looking at whether the viral mechanisms differentially impact women and men."
Source: Eurekalert