New Delhi, (PTI) Covid infection can trigger a dangerous immune response in the hard fatty deposits, called plaques, lining the interiors of the heart’s blood vessels, which can disrupt the normal blood flow, according to researchers.
Exposing these plaques to the coronavirus boosted inflammation in blood vessels, thereby enabling the fatty deposits to interfere with the blood flow and worsen pre-existing heart conditions, the researchers at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, US, showed.
Misplaced inflammation can thus lead to both immediate and longer-lasting heart issues, such as the breaking up of artery-clogging plaques, and may contribute to “long Covid” symptoms, the authors said in their study published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.