What is the story behind COVID and long-term heart risks?
Oh yes, folks, it’s COVID again. Although it hasn’t really gone away, has it? It’s still here, it’s not as bad, and we’ve gotten used to it. That said, researchers are still in the trenches trying to figure out the after effects of COVID, one of them being what it does to our hearts. Recently, I had two researchers on my podcast discuss their work on the impact COVID has on our hearts, and I was blown away by how damaging this little virus can be to the heart. And this is YEARS after recovery!
In this episode of Causes or Cures, I sat down with Dr. Hooman Allayee and James Hilser to explore their new research on the lasting impact of COVID-19 on heart health. They reveal surprising findings about how COVID—especially in those who were hospitalized—elevates the risk of severe heart issues long after recovery, even years down the road. (This elevated risk is in people who had no known underlying cardiovascular risk factors.)
The conversation also dives into the connection between blood type and post-COVID heart risk, and the researchers share their theories on why blood type matters. (So if you don’t know your blood type, find out what it is before listening to the episode- it’ll be better for you that way! :) )
Plus, we discuss the implications of these findings for public health and clinical practice, and the researchers offer important recommendations for how the public health and medical community should respond. (They do a great job of breaking this topic down, so you DO NOT have to be a health professional to understand it. In fact, since COVID is NOT going away, I encourage everyone to listen to it, arm yourself with knowledge and have this on your radar- for you and your friends and family. As far as I can see, the information is not widely known.)
Dr. Allayee is a professor of populations and public health sciences and biochemistry and molecular medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. His research focuses on utilizing genetics and genomics to better understand complex cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases. James Hilser holds a masters of public health, is a bioinformatics specialist and a PhD candidate in molecular medicine in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Keck School of Medicine.
Please tune in to COVID and Long-Term Heart Risks HERE.
I encourage everyone to tune in to this podcast because it is an important one, but if your heart is really not your thing…you can tune in to this excellent podcast that links your poop patterns to health!
If neither hearts nor poop float your boat, what about Clowns? ;)
And listeners or readers alike, don’t forget that Causes or Cures is now equipped with bonus episodes for the lucky subscribers! There is more to come for subscribers, but for now, you’ll get access to bonus episodes researched, written and narrated by me. I LOVE doing these bonus episodes, because I can… well.. I can let my hair down, so to speak. ;) Hope you subscribe and a big fat THANK YOU to those who already subscribed. It means a lot, I hope you enjoy the episodes and you are helping support the podcast, which is a ton of work! :)