BHOPAL: Most of the Covid patients die following a heart attack or face complications of other kinds, such as like brain strokes and fungal infection. Cardiologists say that such post-Covid effects can be handled properly if medicine sequences are maintained. At the initial stages, there should be an anti-viral drug instead of steroids, which lower immunity of the body and enable the infection to spread fast.
A stroke happens when the bodyís immune system starts responding to virus activities and it blocks the system. So, stroke is not due to the virus, but, when the body immune system starts reacting to virus infection or to counter-attack virus infection.
There is a sharp rise in incidents of heart-related issues in recovered Covid patients owing to long-term cardiac problems, including breathing difficulty, chest pain, sudden onset of palpitation (arrhythmia, abnormalities of the heartbeat), heart attacks or heart failure, which, basically, means low pumping capacity.
Due to the increase in inflammation and blood clotting tendencies post-Covid, heart patients face problems after Covid infection as their cardiac status worsens due to irregular follow-up and neglect towards cardiac issues. After getting infected with coronavirus, patients face breathlessness due to pneumonia and lung infection and, so, miss out on cardiac treatment as the symptoms are masked by cough and breathlessness.
Post-Covid, a marked increase in acute cardiac issues was seen in previously healthy individuals, too. The viral syndrome can range from the occurrence of systemic hypertension (blood pressure), minor palpitations, to serious and life-threatening arrhythmia, heart attacks, heart failures, acute pulmonary embolism and other vascular events, such as peripheral arterio-venous occlusion and stroke.
No steroids at first
Whether it's a heart attack or any kind of stroke after Covid infection is due to inflammation. To prevent such cases, patients should be given anti-viral drugs, such as Remesivir, at the initial stages and doses of steroid after that. Steroid lowers the immune system of the body, so the infection spreads faster in those cases. It shouldnít be administered at the initial stages. Therefore, by regulating medicine sequence, hospitals may check such incidents.Dr (Prof) Mandal Subroto, Ubuntu Heart and Super-Speciality Hospital
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