You never know what the news will bring in an age of spy balloons and UFOs. However, on the medical front, healthcare problems have changed in the wake of the pandemic. Mental health and addiction issues have exploded. Depression and suicidal thoughts in children are higher than I’ve seen in my entire career. It appears that, due to delayed screening tests, late-stage cancer diagnoses may be increasing.
In addition, we’re seeing more heart attacks, and deaths from heart attacks, in people between the ages of 25 and 44. This is not the group where we typically see severe cardiac events. The study below highlights this issue (https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/covid-19-surges-linked-to-spike-in-heart-attacks/).
While it’s early, it certainly could be that COVID, like other viral illnesses, induces cardiac inflammation resulting in heart attack. It could be that we became a more sedentary people, our diets changed, or anxiety increased.
While I certainly try not to inflame anyone’s fears, I write this to say that people should be attentive to their symptoms. Even a person who is relatively young should be cautious if they have chest pain, difficulty breathing, profound weakness or dizziness/passing out. Associated symptoms can include nausea, unexpected sweating (or diaphoresis), numbness or tingling in arms or face, or pain into jaw, neck or back. Of course, symptoms in women can be more subtle and can simply involve profound fatigue.
What may be equally important is the idea that we should take good care of ourselves. In the face of an increased level of risk for heart disease, it’s a good time to lose weight, exercise, stop smoking and eat a healthy diet. I would also suggest that everyone take their existing prescriptions, try hard to control their blood glucose in diabetes, manage their blood pressure, and all the rest. We can’t control all of our health risks, but the ones that we can, we certainly should.
Furthermore, even young people should find a primary care physician if possible and establish a relationship with that physician. The screening exams that they perform, the regular exams, the attention to your health that they provide can truly be lifesaving.
It will take decades for us to unravel the consequences of COVID-19 — maybe longer to extricate ourselves from the cultural divides and frustrations. It will take careful research to figure out what problems came from the virus and what problems came from our public health response to it.
But in the meantime, it seems clear that there has been an increased risk of heart attack, and we should all be careful.