Summary:
The following is a summary of the paper: Hilser JR, Spencer NJ, Afshari K, Gilliland FD, Hu H, Deb A, Lusis AJ, Wilson Tang WH, Hartiala JA, Hazen SL, Allayee H. COVID-19 Is a Coronary Artery Disease Risk Equivalent and Exhibits a Genetic Interaction With ABO Blood Type. Arteriosclerosis, Thromb
A study looked at the association of COVID-19 with the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and also looked at whether blood type, a genetic determinant, played a factor.
The study populations were taken from just over 1/2 million people (mainly white) UK citizens recruited between 2006-2010 to the UK Biobank aged between 40-69 years.
Of these ½ million, 11115 individuals were studied who tested positive for COVID-19 via a PCR test; after various exclusions, the following were studied -1943 who were hospitalized; 8062 non-hospitalized with 217730 controls who never tested positive for COVID-19. All the subjects were studied pre-vaccination between 1st February 2020-31st December 2020.
They found the following:
COVID-19 cases at all levels of severity were more likely to be male and have more heart disease associated illness.
As with other studies, COVID-19, regardless of severity, was related with a considerably increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and all other causes of death.
Hospitalization with COVID-19 was linked to an even greater risk of major adverse cardiac events than those who were not hospitalized.
COVID-19 raised the risk of heart attack, stroke, and mortality for up to three years after infection, particularly in individuals hospitalized for COVID-19, regardless of whether the person had a history of heart disease or other risk factors for heart disease such as pre-existing diabetes or obesity; (see also Yan Xie & Ziyad Al-Aly research from March 2022 looking at 1year follow up)
Also, hospitalized people with COVID-19, without a history of heart disease had a 20% increased risk of MACE compared with those people who did not have COVID-19.
With regards to ABO blood type, non-O blood types had an increased likelihood of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study also showed that when people were hospitalized for COVID-19, there was an increased risk of heart attack and stroke for those with non-O blood types than those with O blood type.
This shows a relationship between genetics and the coronavirus
60% of the population have non-O blood type.
We at Long COVID the Answers believe that this study indicates that infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the development of COVID-19 is a risk factor for heart attack and should be considered in the same way as cholesterol, diabetes and obesity are considered as risk factors for heart disease and heart attack. Thereby more emphasis should be put on prevention of infection from this coronavirus.
Source:
The following is a summary of the paper: Hilser JR, Spencer NJ, Afshari K, Gilliland FD, Hu H, Deb A, Lusis AJ, Wilson Tang WH, Hartiala JA, Hazen SL, Allayee H. COVID-19 Is a Coronary Artery Disease Risk Equivalent and Exhibits a Genetic Interaction With ABO Blood Type. Arteriosclerosis, Thromb
