During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths in the US increased by 6.2%. The number of CVD-related deaths increased from 874,613 in 2019 to 928,741 in 2020, marking the biggest annual increase since 2015 and surpassing the previous high of 910,000 in 2003.
The age-adjusted mortality rate accounts for the possibility that the population as a whole gets older from year to year, in which case older persons are anticipated to be dying at greater rates, said Connie W. Tsao, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
The fact that the age-adjusted mortality rate increased for the first time in many years and by a very significant 4.6% may be even more striking than the fact that the overall number of CVD-related fatalities increased from 2019 to 2020, Tsao said.
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Until 2020, the age-adjusted rates have decreased each year, despite the fact that the overall mortality rate has been gradually rising over the past 10 years. Given that people of all ages were affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, particularly before vaccines were available to stop the spread, that is a pretty good representation of what has been happening in our nation and around the world, he added.
The biggest increases in the overall number of CVD-related deaths were seen among Asian, Black and Hispanic people, populations most impacted in the early days of the pandemic and brought to focus increasing structural and societal disparities.
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Both direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 are felt on cardiovascular health, said Michelle A. Albert, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). The virus is linked to new clotting and inflammation. Many persons with heart disease and stroke symptoms, whether they were new or existing, were hesitant to seek medical attention, especially in the early stages of the pandemic, he added.
It led to people presenting with more severe cardiovascular diseases and requiring more urgent or acute care for conditions that may have been chronic but controlled. Sadly, it also looks to have taken many lives, Albert said.
(With agency inputs)
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