Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Scientific American: COVID-19 Can Wreck Your Heart, Even if You Haven't Had Any Symptoms
A German study found that 6 in 10 recovered COVID-19 patients were found to have persistent myocardial inflammation. Lead investigator Elike Nagel: “My personal take is that COVID will increase the incidence of heart failure over the next decades.”
Link to tweet
COVID-19 Can Wreck Your Heart, Even if You Haven’t Had Any Symptoms
A growing body of research is raising concerns about the cardiac consequences of the coronavirus[/b]
... snip
Here’s the background: Myocarditis appears to result from the direct infection of the virus attacking the heart, or possibly as a consequence of the inflammation triggered by the body’s overly aggressive immune response. And it is not age-specific: In The Lancet, doctors recently reported on an 11-year-old child with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)—a rare illness—who died of myocarditis and heart failure. At autopsy, pathologists were able to identify coronavirus particles present in the child’s cardiac tissue, helping to explain the virus’ direct involvement in her death. In fact, researchers are reporting the presence of viral protein in the actual heart muscle, of six deceased patients. Of note is the fact that these patients were documented to have died of lung failure, having had neither clinical signs of heart involvement, nor a prior history of cardiac disease.
Ossama Samuel, associate chief of cardiology at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, told me about a cluster of younger adults developing myocarditis, some of them a month or so after they had recovered from COVID-19. One patient, who developed myocarditis four weeks after believing he had recovered from the virus, responded to a course of steroid treatment only to develop a recurrence in the form of pericarditis (an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart). A second patient, in her 40s, now has reduced heart function from myocarditis, and a third—an athletic man in his 40s—is experiencing recurring and dangerous ventricular heart rhythms, necessitating that he wear a LifeVest defibrillator for protection. His MRI also demonstrates fibrosis and scarring of his heart muscle, which may be permanent, and he may ultimately require placement of a permanent defibrillator.
This is an incredibly tricky diagnosis. Patients with myocarditis often experience symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, fever and fatigue—while some have no symptoms at all. J.N., a health care provider who asked that his full name not be used, told me that COVID-19 symptoms first appeared in his case in late March. He ultimately was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Medical Center after developing unrelenting fevers spiking to 104 degrees, chest tightness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
More: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-can-wreck-your-heart-even-if-you-havent-had-any-symptoms/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=SciAm_&sf237362741=1
A growing body of research is raising concerns about the cardiac consequences of the coronavirus[/b]
... snip
Here’s the background: Myocarditis appears to result from the direct infection of the virus attacking the heart, or possibly as a consequence of the inflammation triggered by the body’s overly aggressive immune response. And it is not age-specific: In The Lancet, doctors recently reported on an 11-year-old child with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)—a rare illness—who died of myocarditis and heart failure. At autopsy, pathologists were able to identify coronavirus particles present in the child’s cardiac tissue, helping to explain the virus’ direct involvement in her death. In fact, researchers are reporting the presence of viral protein in the actual heart muscle, of six deceased patients. Of note is the fact that these patients were documented to have died of lung failure, having had neither clinical signs of heart involvement, nor a prior history of cardiac disease.
Ossama Samuel, associate chief of cardiology at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, told me about a cluster of younger adults developing myocarditis, some of them a month or so after they had recovered from COVID-19. One patient, who developed myocarditis four weeks after believing he had recovered from the virus, responded to a course of steroid treatment only to develop a recurrence in the form of pericarditis (an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart). A second patient, in her 40s, now has reduced heart function from myocarditis, and a third—an athletic man in his 40s—is experiencing recurring and dangerous ventricular heart rhythms, necessitating that he wear a LifeVest defibrillator for protection. His MRI also demonstrates fibrosis and scarring of his heart muscle, which may be permanent, and he may ultimately require placement of a permanent defibrillator.
This is an incredibly tricky diagnosis. Patients with myocarditis often experience symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, fever and fatigue—while some have no symptoms at all. J.N., a health care provider who asked that his full name not be used, told me that COVID-19 symptoms first appeared in his case in late March. He ultimately was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Medical Center after developing unrelenting fevers spiking to 104 degrees, chest tightness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
More: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-can-wreck-your-heart-even-if-you-havent-had-any-symptoms/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=SciAm_&sf237362741=1
18 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
with a touch of fear.
"student athlete" health be damned. We need them fucking dollars changing hands. 
(Michelle Au, MD, MPH is an anesthesiologist and is a Democratic candidate for State Senate in Georgia Senate District 48. https://ballotpedia.org/Michelle_Au)
