The COVID-19 outbreak and its lingering impact have led to an increase in the mortality rate of heart attacks. In fact, the death rate is said to have doubled during the global pandemic, according to Healthline.
Various reasons may have caused the said increase, such as focusing more on avoiding getting contracted with the novel coronavirus and ignoring the signs of a heart attack. Other reasons include a sedentary lifestyle brought by the recent lockdown, unmonitored food and beverage consumption at home, and less physical activities.
In this article, we’ll delve deeper into how the COVID-9 crisis has drastically affected heart health and led to an increased death count brought by heart attacks.
A recent study on neglecting signs of heart attack
A recent study published in JAMA Cardiology specifically underscored the cases of heart attacks during the global pandemic. The ultimate objective of this study was to see the impact of COVID-19 on these cases.
The study was initially conducted in two states—Oregon and Washington—that have a large outbreak of the novel coronavirus. It covered a total of 15,244 hospitalizations involving 14,724 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Researchers also checked data from six states—Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Washington—and compared them with the same period from 2018 and 2019.
The researchers found that people were 2.4 times as likely to die from a heart attack than during pre-pandemic times. Ultimately, the study showed that neglecting the signs of heart attacks affected the patients’ health, which led to an early demise.
The need for prompt actions
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US even before the global health crisis. Given the novel coronavirus outbreak, the mortality rate associated with a heart attack has even doubled. For this reason, prompt actions are required to mitigate the risks and reduce the cases.
According to Dr. Sanjiv Patel, an interventional cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in California, time is of the essence when it comes to heart attacks. Hence, when you feel your chest heavy and arms numb, be sure to contact your doctor immediately or call 911. As this is a matter of life and death, seeking immediate help can make all the difference.
Recent causes of heart attacks
Recent heart attack cases may be attributed to the current lifestyle trends and stress brought by the global pandemic.
For one, staying at home can lead people to unhealthy routines, such as eating poorly, exercising less, smoking, and drinking alcohol. As a result, these can increase the risks of a heart attack.
Aside from that, the new stress levels can significantly impact people’s heart health. It’s easy to see people trying to avoid the virus even during daily activities such as running errands or dropping by the grocery store. Ultimately, not seeing your friends and loved ones can be detrimental to your heart’s health, as well.
The Bottom Line
It’s apparent that the recent COVID-19 crisis has impacted lives in so many ways—that includes the people’s overall health.
Given how the global pandemic has doubled the heart attack’s death rate, we should all take the utmost responsibility to take good care of our health and take care of each other as well. Despite the global restrictions, we should all strive to live a healthy lifestyle—and ignoring the signs of heart attacks won’t help at all!
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