People who have had COVID-19 are at a greater risk of suffering cardiovascular issues during the first month to a year following infection, according to an in-depth examination of government health data.

Disruptive cardiac rhythms, heart inflammation, blood clots, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure, or even death are examples of consequences, according to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

According to studies, those who have recovered from COVID-19 have a considerably increased risk of developing new heart problems.

Researchers from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs compared the rates of new cardiovascular problems in 153,760 people who were infected with the coronavirus before vaccines were available, 5.6 million people who did not get the virus, and another 5.9 million people whose data was collected before the pandemic.

COVID-19 survivors had a 63 percent higher risk of heart attack, a 69 percent higher risk of problematic irregular heart rhythm, a 52 percent higher risk of stroke, compared to the other two groups, they had a 72 percent higher chance of heart failure and a nearly three-fold higher risk of a potentially deadly blood clot in the lungs one year after recovering from the acute phase of the illness, according to a study published on Monday in Nature Medication.

Ziyad Al-Aly from the Washington University in St. Louis and VA St. Louis Health Care System stated that all showed greater risks among former COVID-19 patients, whether they were the young and elderly, Blacks and whites, males and females, persons with and without diabetes, people with and without kidney disease, smokers and nonsmokers.

He observed in a Twitter discussion that the dangers were substantial even in persons who had minor COVID-19 and did not need to be hospitalized for it.

People who have COVID-19 should monitor their health and get medical help if they develop symptoms such as chest pain, chest pressure, palpitation, leg edema, and so on.

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Al-Aly said that their findings stress the serious long-term cardiovascular implications of COVID-19 infection and the need of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 to avoid heart damage; they also highlight the importance of boosting vaccine accessibility in countries with limited resources.