COVID-19 Accelerates Blood Vessel Aging, Particularly in Women

COVID-19 infection can accelerate blood vessel aging, especially in women. A study published in the European Heart Journal suggests that women who have had COVID may experience an equivalent of five years' increase in vascular age. Blood vessels naturally stiffen with age, but COVID may be speeding up this process. Stiffer blood vessels elevate the risk of cardiovascular diseases like stroke and heart attack, according to researchers led by Professor Rosa Maria Bruno from Université Paris Cité, France. The study included 2,390 individuals across 16 countries who were categorized by their severity of COVID infection. Utilizing a device that measures carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), they assessed vascular age six and twelve months post-infection. Researchers found that all groups with past COVID infections, including those with mild cases, exhibited stiffer arteries compared to non-infected individuals. The effect was more significant in women than men and also pronounced in those experiencing lasting COVID symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue. The average increase in PWV among women who had mild COVID was 0.55 meters per second, 0.60 for hospitalized with COVID, and 1.09 for ICU-treated cases. An increase around 0.5 meters/second is clinically significant, equivalent to aging roughly five years, posing an additional 3% risk of cardiovascular disease in a 60-year-old woman. Vaccinated participants showed less stiff arteries than unvaccinated ones long-term. Stabilization or slight improvements were recorded in vascular aging tied to COVID infections. Professor Bruno suggests that the virus targets specific receptors on blood vessels' lining, leading to dysfunction and accelerated aging. The inflammation and immunity responses may also contribute. The differences between women's and men's vascular impact may be due to a more robust immune response in women—protective against infection but potentially damaging after initial recovery. Future research will track participants to determine if this rapid vascular aging increases future heart attack or stroke risks. An accompanying editorial from Harvard Medical School emphasizes the challenge of long-term COVID symptoms. It suggests that up to 40% of patients may develop persistent post-COVID syndromes.