Severe COVID patients must not overexert to avoid heart attacks, says Mansukh Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday advised those who had suffered from severe COVID-19 infection not to exert themselves too much while exercising and staying away from hard labour for some time. Quoting an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study, he said, “It has recommended that those who had severe Covid should desist from extra labour; that they should stay away from continuous labour, laborious running, exercise, etc, for a specified short period, meaning a year or two, so that heart attacks can be prevented.”

While Mandaviya’s statement is generic advice, what do we know about COVID19’s link with heart ailments so far?

Cardiologists believe there is a definite link between COVID-19 and heart ailments in the short-term, especially those that developed within two and three months in recovered patients. Says Ahmedabad-based cardiologist Dr Sameer Dani, director, cardiology services, Apollo CVHF Heart Institute, “We have seen an increased incidence of vascular thrombosis or clotting, not only in the heart but in other blood vessels as well. We found clots in kidney patients when there was no reason for them to develop blockages. Normally, blood clots occur in people with narrow arteries.” Medical literature has shown how the COVID-19 virus affects clotting, wherein it inflames the inner vascular lining.

Dr Dani remembers a bypass patient who had COVID-19 three months after surgery. When he complained of heart issues six months after he had recovered, doctors initially thought his bypass grafts had failed. When he saw the angiography, he realised the bypass grafts were fine but new blockages and clots had developed, which are very unusual in post-surgery patients. “So here, a 10-20 per cent pre-bypass blockage had escalated to around 90 per cent blockage in around six months’ time,” says Dr Dani, who has seen the pattern repeated in at least three patients.