(Bethesda, MD, Tuesday, February 9, 2021) – This February, as we highlight American Heart Month in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance and urgency of protecting our hearts and improving our cardiovascular health is greater than ever.
COVID-19 has shown to have a significant and negative relationship to cardiovascular health.
Scientists are still learning about the immediate effects of COVID-19 on patients’ heart health and how cardiovascular disease and its risk factors make individuals more susceptible to worse outcomes from COVID-19.
But researchers have learned many lessons already. Two of those lessons reinforce what scientists, public health professionals, and doctors know is essential:
- Longstanding and proven measures of prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and promotion of a heart-healthy lifestyle must remain a priority because of the vulnerability CVD poses to COVID-19, and the damage COVID-19 can cause to the heart, leading to future CVD.
- The pandemic has presented new challenges to maintaining a heart healthy lifestyle, as well as medical interventions, increasing long-term risks and prevalence of cardiovascular illness and deaths.
Dr. David Goff discusses what we know about COVID-19 and cardiovascular health, and what we can all do to protect our hearts and prevent cardiovascular disease
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): NHLBI is the global leader in conducting and supporting research in heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders that advances scientific knowledge, improves public health, and saves lives. For more information, visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.