NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Since nearly the start of the pandemic, scientists have known that a COVID-19 infection increases the risk of heart problems, and a growing body of research now suggests that this risk can last until well after the infection has cleared, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California and Cleveland Clinic, found that a COVID-19 infection doubled the risk of a major cardiovascular event for up to three years afterward. What's more, the study found that infections severe enough to require hospitalization increased the likelihood of cardiac events, The New York Times reported on Friday.
"A lot of people are at even greater risk of heart attack than they were before," said David Goff, director for the cardiovascular sciences division at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which provided funding for the study. "And heart disease is already the leading cause of death on our planet before the pandemic. So this is really concerning."
"Given the volume of evidence now linking COVID-19 to heart inflammation, heart failure, arrhythmia and other cardiovascular issues, experts said, doctors should be taking a closer look at patients' COVID history," noted the report.
People who had a severe infection "should be considered at high risk for future cardiovascular events," said Stanley Hazen, the chair of the department of cardiovascular and metabolic sciences at Cleveland Clinic and one of the authors of the new study.
