Five months post-covid, Nicole Murphy's heart rate is still doing strange things

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/21/covid-cardiac-issues-longterm/
https://news.yahoo.com/five-months-post-covid-nicole-125919778.html

Five months post-covid, Nicole Murphy’s heart rate is still doing strange things
The prevalence of such symptoms has experts projecting a ‘tidal wave’ of cardiovascular cases related directly and indirectly to the coronavirus
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
February 21, 2022

Five months after being infected with the coronavirus, Nicole Murphy’s pulse rate is going berserk. Normally in the 70s, which is ideal, it has been jumping to 160, 170 and sometimes 210 beats per minute even when she is at rest — putting her at risk of a heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

No one seems to be able to pinpoint why. She’s only 44, never had heart issues, and when a cardiologist near her hometown of Wellsville, Ohio, ran all of the standard tests, “he literally threw up his hands when he saw the results,” she recalled. Her blood pressure was perfect, there were no signs of clogged arteries, and her heart was expanding and contracting well.

Murphy’s boomeranging heart rate is one of a number of mysterious conditions afflicting Americans weeks or months after coronavirus infections that suggest the potential of a looming cardiac crisis.

A pivotal study that looked at health records of more than 153,000 U.S. veterans published this month in Nature Medicine found that their risk of cardiovascular disease of all types increased substantially in the year following infection, even when they had mild cases. The population studied was mostly White and male, but the patterns held even when the researchers analyzed women and people of color separately. When experts factor in the heart damage probably suffered by people who put off medical care, more sedentary lifestyles and eating changes, not to mention the stress of the pandemic, they estimate there may be millions of new onset cardiac cases related to the virus, plus a worsening of disease for many already affected.

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[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Perhaps the long term effects of Covid will be that lots and lots of people

will need care, lots of support, won't be able to work or do much of anything useful.

Depending on the percentage of those who fall into that category, life will be vastly changed. One or two percent, meh. Nothing to see here.

But even 10 percent, let alone more, will seriously impact life as we know it.

In the end, that may be the long term effect of Covid: That a truly significant percent of people have long term Covid, cannot really take care of themselves, are essentially disabled.

If those who got a serious case of Covid simply died, that would be tragic but manageable. Even if that were a significant (I'm going out on a limb here, but will say 15% or more of the population) percentage of the population, it's sad but manageable.

But what if Covid is worse, especially long term. I'm not talking deaths, because it is clear that the death rate from Covid is not all that large. But what if a significant number of people are disabled, unable to care for themselves, require a lot of hands on long term care?
Here is where percentages matter. A quick Google search tells me that right now only around 4.5% of people are in nursing homes. What if that percent rises? 6%, 10%, 15%? At some point the percentage of people needing full time care will truly overwhelm the system, such as it is. At what point, at what numbers, will everything fall apart?

[bottomofthehill]

2. I feel her pain.

Had Covid a year ago. Just wore a Zio (heart monitor) for a couple weeks trying to figure out wtf is going on. My blood pressure and heart rate are higher, yet cholesterol and triglycerides are lower. Take my BP twice a day and have been wearing my Apple Watch, but the Zio gives a clearer picture. Stress test, ultrasound of my heart, multiple EKG’s….

[appalachiablue]

3. Awful, I hope the woman recovers. K/R