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The COVID-19 Pandemic and Coronary Heart Disease: the Next Surge
Asim Shaikh1, Sarim Dawar Khan1, Farhala Baloch1
1The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened coronary heart disease (CHD) through direct and indirect effects, increasing heart attacks. Future research and interventions are crucial to manage the rising CHD burden and mitigate long-term health consequences.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to global health.
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide.
- Understanding the pandemic's impact on CHD is critical for public health strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the multifaceted impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the burden of coronary heart disease (CHD).
- To project the expected surge in CHD morbidity and mortality in the near future.
- To discuss potential solutions and future research directions for managing pandemic-related CHD.
Main Methods:
- This is a narrative review synthesizing current evidence.
- The review analyzes both direct and indirect mechanisms linking COVID-19 to CHD.
- It examines impacts on health behaviors, healthcare access, and long-term health outcomes.
Main Results:
- COVID-19 directly contributes to CHD through plaque rupture, destabilization, and chronic inflammation, leading to increased myocardial infarction and long COVID syndrome.
- Indirectly, the pandemic exacerbates CHD risk via detrimental changes in lifestyle behaviors (e.g., smoking, inactivity), economic hardship, and disruptions to cardiac care.
- The pandemic has significantly increased the overall burden of CHD.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrably increased the burden of coronary heart disease.
- Addressing this requires substantial resource allocation and comprehensive, multifaceted strategies.
- Future research and public health interventions must focus on mitigating these pandemic-induced cardiovascular risks.
Purpose Of Review:
In this narrative review, we highlight different ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted coronary heart disease (CHD) burden and how a surge in morbidity and mortality may be expected in the near future. We also discuss potential solutions, and the direction subsequent research and corrective actions should take.
Recent Findings:
COVID-19 has been implicated in the development and worsening of CHD via acute and chronic mechanisms in the form of plaque rupture, destabilization, and sustenance of a chronic inflammatory state leading to long COVID syndrome and increased rates of myocardial infarction. However, indirectly the pandemic is likely to further escalate the CHD burden through poor health behaviors such as tobacco consumption, reduced physical activity, economic devastation and its associated sequelae, and regular cardiac care interruptions and delays. COVID-19 has increased the total CHD burden and will require extensive resource allocation and multifaceted strategies to curb future rise.
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