Long term cardiometabolic outcomes in COVID positive patients
🚨New diabetes, New hypertension, Long after COVID.
→The reality, a major cardiometabolic fallout thanks to SarsCoV2!
😡We warned you!
➡️This South African narrative review examines cardiometabolic disorders (CMD), especially new-onset diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN), emerging more than three months after acute COVID-19,
#L0ngC0vid
➡️Background:
- South Africa recorded ~4.5 million COVID-19 cases and 103,000 deaths,
- CMD are major comorbidities linked to severe disease and death,
- Long COVID affects 35% of outpatients to 87% of hospitalised patients,
➡️Findings:
- A meta-analysis of 20 cohorts (~60 million patients) found a 46% increased risk of diabetes (HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.38–1.55, p<0.001),
- Hypertension showed a stronger association (HR 1.70),
- Among 906,849 hospitalised patients, 25.5% had hypertension and 20.5% had diabetes,
➡️Severity Differences:
- The review notes the spectrum from asymptomatic/mild to severe multi-organ failure,
- Pre-existing CMD increased risk of severe COVID-19, - Heterogeneity across studies partly reflects differences in disease severity,
- One study linked greater initial severity to higher risk of kidney complications, while another found similar rates of persistent symptoms (~18%) between severe and non-severe hospitalised patients,
➡️Vaccination:
- Vaccination is discussed briefly,
- Multiple doses of Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine were linked to lower long COVID rates (p<0.001),
- It offered partial protection against long-term effects,
- A large Norwegian study found only 0.09% of vaccinated individuals developed cardiometabolic symptoms 90–365 days post-infection,
- Myocarditis/pericarditis risks were noted (especially in young males), though vaccination was associated with reduced overall cardiovascular complications,
➡️Reinfection:
- No reinfection discussion,
➡️Implications:
- Highlights significant patient burden and calls for greater awareness, long-term monitoring, and integrated care,
- SarsCoV2= CV risk factor,
‼️So, COVID-19 has left a hidden, expanding epidemic of new diabetes and hypertension in its wake, condemning millions of survivors to lifelong cardiometabolic disease and threatening to cripple already strained healthcare systems if the warning signs continue to be ignored!
At a time when attention for COVID-19 is waning, this review serves as a timely reminder that the pandemic(+effects) is far from over and that prevention, proactive monitoring, integrated care for cardiometabolic health in COVID survivors, remain essential.
Btw: overview fig is worth your attention too!
#AvoidSars2 #AvoidReinfections #SarsCardioVascularRisk #Diabetes #Hypertension
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…