More cases of heart attack have come to light in the first year after the corona vaccine
Medical experts have revealed that the highest number of deaths after the corona epidemic are due to heart disease.
According to the details, after the corona epidemic, like all over the world, there has been an increase in heart attack cases in Karachi, which has been noted by medical experts.
According to experts, some people who have been vaccinated with the Covid vaccine also complain of heart pain, which is creating confusion in the society about the vaccine.
Medical experts have admitted that more cases of death due to heart attack were reported in the initial days of vaccination, but since post-mortems were not conducted during this time, it is difficult to say whether the cause of death is Covid or something else, research in this regard is ongoing.
When News agency contacted major hospitals in the city, they did not have any data. However, Dr. Farhala Baloch, a consultant cardiologist at Aga Khan University Hospital, said that if the data before and after the Corona epidemic is compared, a clear difference is seen.
She said that we have a large number of heart attack cases. If we look at the data of Aga Khan University Hospital in the international registry, before Corona, i.e. in 2018 and 2019, 1,000 to 1,500 patients came here every year who needed urgent angiography, angioplasty or bypass, but after Corona, this number has increased to 2,500 to 3,000 patients annually from 2021 to 2024.
This number does not always remain the same because many factors influence it, but we have also noted and reported this increase.
He said that the number of deaths due to heart attacks has definitely decreased because the Aga Khan University Hospital is equipped with modern facilities and patients are treated here in a better way. Due to this, the lives of patients have been saved. But one worrying aspect is that now the mortality rate due to heart attacks is increasing in young patients. Such patients are mostly 40 years old and their lives cannot be saved due to cardiogenic shock.
He said that in the past, heart diseases were mostly seen in the elderly, but now even 18-year-olds are suffering from major heart attacks. Some patients are saved and some we cannot save.
Dr. Farhala Baloch said that some people have the impression that the risk of heart attacks has increased due to Corona, but decisions in the health sector are not made on the basis of perception alone, research and clinical evidence are necessary for this. Research is being done on this in different countries of the world. Some small studies have shown that people who had severe COVID-19 and went to the ICU or oxygen, had heart attacks. The heart was the second most affected organ during COVID-19 after the lungs.
He said that when there is a lack of oxygen in the body, the heart is also affected and then the patient goes into multi-organ failure. But it is too early to say that COVID-19 infection directly led to an increase in heart attacks.
He said that COVID-19 has indirectly increased the rate of heart attacks. After the epidemic, people’s habits changed, work from home became common, which increased the pressure of work. People thought it was easy, but in reality it was double the pressure, especially for working women. In addition, eating, sleeping and physical activity habits were also affected. Obese patients come to our clinic and say that they gained weight during COVID-19 and are no longer losing it.
The doctor said that international research has also proven that the heart is affected after the lungs by Corona. Corona weakened the heart muscle, increased heart attacks and blood clotting problems. We also saw that even patients with mild Corona infection complained of irregular heartbeat, rapid heartbeat or high blood pressure.
Regarding the vaccine, he said that there is a perception in society that the Corona vaccine has side effects and people associate it with heart disease. Some patients say that their blood pressure or other symptoms started after getting the vaccine, but we do not have any clinical confirmation of this. It is not correct to say that the vaccine caused heart attacks or deaths because the vaccine has benefited countless people. Reactions can occur with any medicine or vaccine, this can also happen with any component of the Corona vaccine, but it does not happen to everyone.
He said that the unsafe vaccines that were made during the Corona epidemic did not come to Pakistan. Later, better and more effective vaccines were provided around the world. I don’t think it’s right to spread the impression that vaccines are harmful, because people avoid getting the flu vaccine because of this fear. However, the flu vaccine is very important for the elderly and heart patients because it reduces the risk of life-threatening pneumonia.
He said that if a doctor recommends the vaccine, it means that it is really needed. He clarified that no increase in heart attack cases has been seen in people who have been vaccinated at the Aga Khan University Hospital.
The rate of heart attacks is still increasing due to the same traditional reasons, which include mental stress, poor lifestyle and eating habits, high blood pressure after the vaccine, body aches and heart pain.
