CHARLOTTE, N.C. — According to a study from doctors around the world, there was an uptick in women’s heart disease and stroke during the pandemic.
According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the deaths of more than a million Americans, but doctors are discovering a ripple effect of other health issues that popped up as the world grappled with the pandemic.
“People were delaying or avoiding care for chronic conditions, things like diabetes and hypertension and obesity,” Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, American Heart Association president, said. “And those are the very things that put us not only at risk for COVID but also at risk for cardiovascular diseases and stroke.”
According to the American Heart Association, research shows overall deaths from heart disease and stroke increased substantially during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think this is really a red flag warning that we must do better, and we must get our patients back into care in the health system and also get people focusing again on those very important things that will improve their heart disease and stroke risk,” Lloyd-Jones said.
Dr. Mayra Guerrero, an interventional cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic, authored a study with several other doctors around the world focused specifically on women and cardiovascular disease.
Guerrero said there was an uptick in women’s heart disease and stroke during the pandemic, adding that stressors from increases in domestic violence and additional responsibilities at home with childcare and schooling may have been contributing factors.
Guerrero said doctors also saw an uptick in stress-induced cardiomyopathy, or broken heart syndrome, among women.
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“What happened with the pandemic is that the rates of this type of heart attack, just from the stress of the pandemic itself, even without being sick with COVID,” Guerrero said, “that those rates of that type of heart attack increased during the pandemic.”
Guerrero encourages people to take their heart health seriously and encourages people to know the simple seven risk factors for heart disease and stroke from the the American Heart Association:
- Manage blood pressure
- Control cholesterol
- Reduce blood sugar
- Get active
- Eat better
- Lose weight
- Stop smoking
Contact Kendall Morris at kmorris2@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.