A groundbreaking study conducted a comparison of arterial stiffness between participants before and after contracting COVID-19.
New research indicates that even mild instances of COVID-19 can lead to lasting harm to cardiovascular health.
The study is the first comparison of levels of arterial stiffness before and after a COVID-19 infection, a parameter closely tied to the aging process and performance of our arteries. The lingering effects of a COVID-19 infection, often referred to as long COVID, are connected with a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and in severe scenarios, death.
An international team of scientists was able to do this research using baseline measurements from a group of participants involved in a separate study that began pre-pandemic, also investigating arterial stiffness.
In those who had been diagnosed with mild COVID-19, artery and central cardiovascular function were affected by the disease two to three months after infection. Side effects include stiffer and more dysfunctional arteries that could lead to cardiovascular disease development.
The paper, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, revealed age and time from COVID infection are associated with increased aging of the arteries.
Co-author, Dr Maria Perissiou from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Sport, Health & Exercise Science, said: “We were surprised to observe such a decline in vascular health, which deteriorated even further with time since COVID-19 infection. Usually, you’d expect inflammation to decrease with time after infection, and for all the physiological functions to go back to normal or a healthy level.