Catching COVID-19 linked to sudden risk of heart disease and diabetes risk, study finds

In the first weeks after infection, contracting coronavirus was linked to a six-fold increase in cardiovascular diagnoses, the study found, mainly blood clotting in the lungs and irregular beating of the heart.

During the first four weeks of falling sick, the study found an 11-fold increase in pulmonary embolism, when blood clots can affect the lungs, a six-fold increase in atrial arrhythmias, where the heart beat is irregular, and a five-fold increase in venous thromboses, the clotting of veins.

However, according to the study, the sudden heightened risk for heart diseases and diabetes both subsided over time, as people recovered.

The threat of new heart conditions began to decline five weeks after infection and returned to baseline levels or lower within 12 weeks to one year, the study said.

Speaking to 9news.com.au, the study’s lead author Dr Emma Rezel-Potts said the results underlined how COVID-19 was a complex multisystem disorder, and much more than just a potentially deadly respiratory illness.

“There are very few studies that are looking at these longer-term outcomes,” Rezel-Potts said.

“So in that sense, we weren’t sure what we were going to find.”

The diabetes findings were of particular note, she said, and unexpected.

Rezel-Potts said the heightened risk of diabetes for months afterwards was an important result doctors should consider when helping patients recover.

The study recommended doctors advise recovering patients to reduce their risk of diabetes through healthy diet and exercise.

Cardiovascular diseases are the biggest killers in Australia every year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

An estimated 1.2 million Australians, 4.9 per cent of the population, have diabetes, with the condition contributing to 11 per cent of the country’s deaths in 2018.

The study’s co-author Ajay Shah said it was clear that doctors should pay “particular vigilance” toward patients for at least the first three months after catching COVID-19.