Many patients who have healed from COVID-19 infection suffer health complications in the long run, these complications are usually connected with critical disease. Earlier, it was more common among older patients. But now, a new analysis at the Appalachian State University highlights the likely long term health consequences of COVID-19 on young, relatively healthy adults who were not hospitalized and who only had minor symptoms due to the virus. The study was published in the journal Experimental Physiology.
Stiffness Of Arteries Found In Mild Cases Among Healthy Young Adults
In young adults, increased stiffness of arteries, in particular, was found, which may affect heart health, and can also be important for other groups who may have had difficult cases of the virus. It means that young, healthy adults with mild COVID-19 symptoms may increase their risk of cardiovascular complexities which may continue for some time after COVID-19 infection.
Changes In Blood Vessel May Also Happen
As SARS-CoV-2, the virus which is mainly identified by respiratory symptoms, other studies have newly shown changes to blood vessel function among young adults 3-4 weeks after being infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Ratchford et al., 2021). This has also been observed months after infection in older adults as well (Riou et al. J Clin Med. 2021).
Blood Supply To Brain May Be Affected
Through researches, it is found that the virus may have harmful effects on arteries throughout the body, including in the carotid artery which supplies the brain with blood. This draws connections between SARS-CoV-2 and other acute bacterial and viral infections which alter arterial stiffness such as rheumatic fever, Kawasaki disease, pneumonia, H. Pylori, and lupus, all of which may persist long after symptoms have determined.
Finding The Cause
After testing the young adults 3-4 weeks after being infected with SARS-CoV-2. They did an ultrasound on the carotid artery and took readings of that image for 10-15 heartbeats. These readings were examined on computer software to find measures of carotid stiffness. For the analysis, they used data from young healthy adults who were studied prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as the limitations of this study go, the researchers do not know if the SARS-CoV-2 group had any inherent decrements in arterial stiffness prior to catching the virus. They also did not control for menstrual cycle or variations in contraceptive use in either group. Still, earlier research has shown that contraceptive use and menstrual cycle fluctuations among young healthy females may not influence the outcome measures they were analysing.
According to the researchers, they are following these young adults for 6 months after primary infection with SARS-CoV-2 to see if and when the arterial health of these individuals is improving. The ends of the longitudinal study will be attractive, as these adults’ symptomology may improve, yet their arterial health may not be improving as quickly, which may have significance for their heart health.
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