一項新的研究警告說，流感大流行可能導致心臟問題激增

一項新的研究警告說，流感大流行可能導致心臟問題激增

COVID-19 could take a massive toll on the health of hearts across the world. New research has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause a wave of cardiovascular problems in the coming years. Not only are the researchers concerned with how the virus impacts the heart, but also how the lockdown might have affected peoples’ wider health.

COVID-19可能對世界各地人的心臟健康造成巨大損害。新的研究警告稱，COVID-19大流行可能在未來幾年引發(fā)一波心血管問題。研究人員不僅關心病毒如何影響心臟，還關心封鎖可能如何影響人們更廣泛的健康。

Cardiovascular disease killed nearly 18.6 million people globally in 2019, a rate that has risen by over 17 percent from the decade previous. While this trend is set to continue regardless of the pandemic, researchers suspect that COVID-19 is likely to make things even worse. The new study, published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation, predicts the global burden of cardiovascular disease will grow exponentially over the next few years as a direct and indirect consequence of COVID-19.

2019年，全球有近1860萬人死于心血管疾病，這一比例比10年前上升了17%以上。盡管無論大流行如何，這一趨勢都將持續(xù)下去，但研究人員懷疑，COVID-19可能會讓情況變得更糟。今天發(fā)表在美國心臟協(xié)會旗艦期刊《循環(huán)》上的這項新研究預測，作為COVID-19的直接和間接后果，未來幾年全球心血管疾病負擔將呈指數(shù)級增長。

As previous research has shown, COVID-19 doesn’t just affect the lungs, but also the kidneys, the gut, the brain, the skin, and the heart. A significant number of COVID-19 patients experience damage to their hearts, with some studies suggesting up to half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who undergo a heart scan show signs of abnormalities in heart function. It’s not totally clear how the virus affects the heart, but it’s well-established that a viral infection can cause significant inflammation which can injure the heart. It’s also well-established that COVID-19 is associated with blood clots in some people.

正如之前的研究表明的那樣，COVID-19不僅會影響肺部，還會影響腎臟、腸道、大腦、皮膚和心臟。大量COVID-19患者的心臟受到損害，一些研究表明，接受心臟掃描的住院COVID-19患者中，多達一半的患者表現(xiàn)出心功能異常的跡象。目前還不完全清楚病毒是如何影響心臟的，但已經(jīng)確定的是，病毒感染會導致嚴重的炎癥，從而損害心臟。眾所周知，COVID-19與某些人的血栓有關。

Tom Hale

But the infection itself is only part of the story. The researchers were also concerned that many people have or will delay care or diagnosis of cardiovascular conditions as they want to avoid hospitals or healthcare systems overwhelmed due to a flood of COVID-19 cases.

但感染本身只是問題的一部分。研究人員還擔心，許多人已經(jīng)或?qū)⑼七t心血管疾病的護理或診斷，因為他們想避免醫(yī)院或醫(yī)療系統(tǒng)因COVID-19病例大量涌入而不堪重負。

"COVID-19 has taken a huge toll on human life worldwide and is on track to become one of the top three to five causes of death in 2020. But its influence will, directly and indirectly, impact rates of cardiovascular disease prevalence and deaths for years to come," Dr Salim S. Virani, chair of the writing committee for the 2021 Statistical Update and associate professor in cardiology and cardiovascular research at Baylor College of Medicine, said in a statement.

“2019冠狀病毒病(COVID-19)已經(jīng)在全球范圍內(nèi)造成了巨大的生命損失，并有望成為2020年的三大至五大死亡原因之一。直接或間接,但其影響將影響心血管疾病的患病率和死亡率,”Salim S. Virani博士，貝勒醫(yī)學院心血管和心血管研究副教授，2021年統(tǒng)計更新寫作委員會主席,在一份聲明中說。

"Importantly, we also know people have delayed getting care for heart attacks and strokes, which can result in poorer outcomes."

“重要的是，我們也知道人們推遲了心臟病發(fā)作和中風的治療，這可能會導致更糟糕的結果。”

On top of this, the social distancing measures and lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have profoundly changed the way many of us live. Generally speaking, people are drinking more, exercising less, under more stress, and are more susceptible to mental health challenges — none of which bodes well for a happy heart.

此外，與COVID-19大流行相關的社會隔離措施和封鎖也深刻地改變了我們許多人的生活方式。一般來說，人們喝得更多，鍛煉得更少，承受的壓力更大，更容易受到心理健康挑戰(zhàn)——這些都不是一顆快樂的心的好兆頭。

"The extraordinary circumstances of dealing with COVID-19 have changed the way we live, including adopting unhealthy behaviors that are known to increase the risk of heart disease and stroke," explained Dr Virani. "Unhealthy eating habits, increased consumption of alcohol, lack of physical activity and the mental toll of quarantine isolation and even fear of contracting the virus all can adversely impact a person's risk for cardiovascular health."

維拉尼博士解釋說:“應對COVID-19的特殊情況改變了我們的生活方式，包括采取了眾所周知會增加心臟病和中風風險的不健康行為。”“不健康的飲食習慣、酗酒、缺乏體育活動、隔離隔離帶來的精神負擔，甚至害怕感染病毒，都可能對一個人的心血管健康產(chǎn)生不利影響。”

This isn't the only long-term global health problem that experts are concerned about. Earlier this month, a team of scientists also speculate that the COVID-19 pandemic could bring a surge of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s diseases in years to come.

這并不是專家們擔心的唯一一個長期的全球健康問題。本月早些時候，一組科學家還推測，COVID-19大流行可能會在未來幾年導致認知能力下降、癡呆和阿爾茨海默病的激增。