What Is The Association Between Covid-19, Cardiovascular Disease, And Mortality?

CVD symptoms have been reported in a considerable proportion of individuals with COVID-19, who exhibited cardiac structural and functional abnormalities such as myocardial injury and increased levels of cardiac tissue troponin.

Improving the understanding of cardiovascular outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections could aid in identifying highrisk patients and providing tailored therapy to improve the standard of care.

In the present study, researchers investigated cardiac presentation among COVID-19 patients and those with long COVID.

The team identified SARS-CoV2-positive from the United Kingdom (UK) Biobank database between March 16, 2020, and November 30, 2020, and followed them up for 18.0 months, through August 31, 2021.

Based on sex and age, COVID-19 cases were matched with ≤10 individuals lacking SARS-CoV-2 infections (controls) of a historical group between March 16, 2018, and November 30, 2018, and a contemporary group between March 16, 2020, and November 30, 2020.

The team adjusted individual characteristics using propensity scorematching and MMWS (marginal mean weighting through stratification) for sex, age, body mass index, ethnicity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, Charlson comorbidity index, hypertension, multiple deprivation index, and previous history of COVID-19 outcomes.

Cox proportional hazard regression modeling was performed to assess the association between the development of cardiovascular disease and deaths within 3.0 weeks of diagnosis (during the acute period) and the period following that of acute COVID-19, and hazard ratios (HR) were calculated.

COVID-19 severity was based on data on critical care admissions and the type of healthcare support ex- tended to each SARS-CoV-2-positive individual. Data of the participants, provided by the United Kingdom biobank, were linked to primary care (general practitioner level) data via England’s phoenix partnership and Egton medical data system through August 31, 2021.

In addition, data on hospitalized inpatients provided by the NHS (National Health Service) digital public health of Scotland and mortality records were linked to the data provided by the National Health Service of Wales, Scotland, and England, of the study participants.

COVID-19 diagnoses were based on positive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) analysis reports or the international classification of diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) hospitalization codes U07.1 and U07.2 for COVID-19-associated diagnosis. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate cardiovascular and mortality risks based on COVID-19 severity and the sex of individuals.

During the acute period, in comparison to 75,790 contemporary controls and 75,774 historical controls, the cohort of 7,584 SARSCoV-2-positive individuals demonstrated a significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease (HR 4.30; HR 5.00) and any-cause deaths (HR: 81; HR: 68), respectively, in the short-term.

During the period following the acute SARS-CoV-2 infection period, the cohort of 7, 139 COVID-19 patients exhibited a significantly greater risk of long-term cardiovascular disease (HR 1.40; HR 1.30) and any-cause deaths (HR: 5.00; HR 4.50) in comparison to 71,296 contemporary controls and 71,314 historical controls, respectively.

During the acute period, the incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated deaths was 700. Of note, the risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis), AF (atrial fibrillation), and stroke was significantly greater in comparison to individuals belonging to the contemporary group (stroke: 10; AF: 8.0; DVT: 22) and the historical group (stroke: 5.0; AF: 6.0; DVT: 11). During the period following that of acute COVID-19, the incidence rate for SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated deaths was 12. Of note, unlike during the acute period, post-acute COVID-19 patients were at a significantly greater risk of pericarditis compared to contemporary control individuals (HR 4.6) and historical control individuals (HR 4.50).

In the subgroup analyses, severe COVID-19 patients showed a greater likelihood of developing major cardiovascular diseases and of any-cause death in comparison to non-severe COVID-19 cases, and the male sex was related to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease development in the acute COVID-19 period; however, during the post-acute period, the cardiovascular risks were largely comparable among males and females.

Probable mechanisms to explain long COVID cardiac pathophysiology include direct effects of SARSCoV-2 and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor binding since the receptor, critical for SARS-CoV-2 entry, is present in cardiac tissues, including cardiac vasculature.

SARS-CoV-2 might infect myocardial cells and other cardiac cells directly, underpinned by previously published histopathological findings of marked elevation in the infiltration of macrophages in myocardial tissues.

Overall, the study findings showed that SARS-CoV-2 infections and long COVID increase the risks of cardiovascular disease development and death in the short- and long-term.

The findings indicated that regular monitoring of cardiovascular disease-associated clinical presentation till ≤1.0-year post-COVID-19 recovery could benefit SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, particularly males with severe COVID-19. (Courtesy: https://www. news-medical.net/)

1% Of U.S. Population, Indian-Americans Pay 6% Of Taxes: Congressman

(Continued From Page 01) maiden speech on the House floor, Rich McCormick, 54, said that one of the five doctors in his community is from India and described IndianAmericans as great patriots, up- cause they’re the most productive or family oriented and the best of what represents American citizens,” McCormick said. Georgia has a significant number of IndianAmericans. standing citizens and good friends.

“Although they make up about 1% of American society, they pay about six per cent of the taxes. They’re amongst the top producers, and they do not cause problems.

They follow the laws,” McCormick said in a short speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A physician by profession, Republican McCormick represents the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, which mainly constitutes the northern suburbs of Atlanta. He defeated Bob Christian of the Democratic Party in the Nov. 8, 2022 midterm elections.

“They (Indian-Americans) don’t have the problems that we see other people have when they come to the emergency room for overdoses and depression anxiety be-

“I rise to this occasion to appreciate my constituents, especially those who have immigrated from India.

We have a very large portion of my community that’s made up of almost 100,000 people who have immigrated directly from India,” he said. “One out of every five doctors in my community are from India. They represent some of the best citizens we have in America, we should make sure that we streamline the immigration process for those who come here to obey the the law and pay their taxes and be the most creative and productive in society,” McCormick said.

“God bless my Indian constituents and I look forward to meeting with the (Indian) Ambassador,” McCormick said in his brief remarks. (Courtesy: https://www.bqprime. com/)