COVID-19 Linked to Accelerated Vascular and Cardiac Aging, especially in Women: Study
Covid-19 Now Endemic in India
A new study published in the journal of European Heart Association revealed that vascular aging can be accelerated by about 5 years by COVID-19, with women seeing the most noticeable effects. Indications of accelerated heart aging were linked to even minor disease.
According to recent research, a significant portion of COVID-19 survivors bear the burden of chronic health loss, including a higher prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) disease, in addition to acute sickness. A gradient of risk based on the degree of acute COVID-19 infection has been documented up to 12 months following infection. Thus, to determine if accelerated vascular aging follows COVID-19 infection and, if so, what factors contribute to it, this investigation was carried out.
34 centers across 16 countries participated in this prospective, multicentric cohort study. The participants were divided into 4 groups: COVID-19-negative controls (ⅰ) and 3 groups of people who had recently (6 ± 3 months) been exposed to SARS-CoV-2: not hospitalized (ⅱ), hospitalized in general wards (ⅲ), and hospitalized in intensive care units (ⅳ). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a recognized indicator of major artery stiffness, was the primary result.
A total of 2390 people were enlisted. All COVID-19-positive groups had increased PWV (+0.41, +0.37, and +0.40 m/s for groups 2–4, P <.001, P =.001, and P =.003) when compared to controls after controlling for covariates [PWV 7.53 (7.09; 7.97) m/s adjusted mean (95% CI)]. PWV differences were significant for women but not for men in sex-stratified analyses [PWV +0.55, +0.60, and +1.09 m/s for groups 2–4, P <.001 for all)].
Regardless of the severity of the disease or cardiovascular variables, persistent symptoms were linked to increased PWV among women with COVID-19 [adjusted PWV 7.52 (95% CI 7.09; 7.96) vs. 7.13 (95% CI 6.67; 7.59) m/s, P <.001]. After a year, the COVID+ groups showed a steady or better PWV, while the COVID− group showed a progression.
Overall, evidence suggests that COVID-19 infection, particularly in women, is linked to both short-term and long-term accelerated vascular aging. Additional research is required to validate these results and to show whether these preclinical changes are linked to clinical CV events, determine whether more recent SARS-CoV-2 variants can cause accelerated vascular aging to the same degree, and determine whether reinfections are linked to worse arterial stiffness.
Reference:
Bruno, R. M., Badhwar, S., Abid, L., Agharazii, M., Anastasio, F., Bellien, J., Burghuber, O., Faconti, L., Filipovsky, J., Ghiadoni, L., Giannattasio, C., Hametner, B., Hughes, A. D., Jeroncic, A., Ikonomidis, I., Lonnebakken, M. T., Maloberti, A., Mayer, C. C., Muiesan, M. L., … CARTESIAN Investigators. (2025). Accelerated vascular ageing after COVID-19 infection: the CARTESIAN study. European Heart Journal. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf430
