Women are more affected than men, as well as people suffering from prolonged Covid.
A new consequence of: an infection can cause the faster aging of blood vessels.
The new analyzed more than 2,000 people from 16 countries to analyze consequences of coronavirus. A distinction was made between: people who were not infected with Covid, those who had slight symptoms, those treated for Covid in a normal unit and those that were admitted to the intensive care unit due to the disease.
To examine the age of each person’s blood vessels, researchers used a device that measures the speed with which a wave of blood pressure moves from the carotid artery to femoral arteries. The higher this value, the rigid the blood vessels and the greater the age.
The measurements were performed 6 and 12 months after covid infection. The evaluation also considered other factors that may influence the age of blood vessels. Explain the.
Os blood vessels are becoming stricter, as age is advancing. Stricter blood vessels increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases (Stroke or heart attack).
The blood vessels of the groups infected with covid – even if the infection was light – were on average rigid than in people who never had Covid.
Who was vaccinated against Covid-19 presented, on average, blood vessels Less rigid than not vaccinated.
There was also a difference in the genre: the difference was quite visible in women but there was no significant difference in men. Women are more affected than men in the blood vessels.
But the authors believe that this conclusion is related to the fact that more men have died because of COVID-19. There is a “survival bias” among the male participants of the study.
Generally speaking, the effect of aging on infected individuals stabilized, or decreased after some time.
“The study is in a way Very provocative. Many people had Covid. We want to do everything not to grow old. This, of course, makes us stop and pay attention, ”says Heribert Schunkert, vice president of the German Foundation of the Heart.
It is lacking to “look closely at” the results, to realize if these groups were really similar, and determine if the cause of this accelerated aging process was really (only) Covid.
