Experts discover Covid triggers condition linked to dementia – and one group is most at risk

A new study has revealed that even mild Covid can age your blood vessels by up to five years, increasing your long-term risk of heart disease, strokes and dementia.

Known medically as vascular aging, it sees the blood vessels which carry vital oxygen to organs in the body stiffen, and is normal as we get older.

But according to the new study, which included 2,390 people from 16 different countries, it is accelerated by the virus. 

It was particularly acute in women, wrote the French researchers in the findings, published in the European Heart Journal.  

Previous studies have shown vascular aging to be linked to an increased risk of developing the memory-robbing illness dementia. 

The latest study also found people who had been vaccinated against Covid generally had arteries that were less stiff than those who were unvaccinated.

And for these people, over the long term, the vascular aging seemed to stabilise or improve slightly.

On their findings, lead author, Professor Rosa Maria Bruno from Université Paris Cité, said: ‘We know that Covid can directly affect blood vessels.

‘We believe that this may be a result of vascular aging, meaning your blood vessels are older than your chronological age and you are more susceptible to heart disease.

‘If that is happening, we need to identify who is at risk at an early stage to prevent heart attacks and strokes.’

They assed vascular age with a device that measures the speed at which a wave of blood pressure travels called a carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV).

This is how fast the blood is able to flow from the neck to the legs, and the higher the measurement, the stiffer the blood vessels and higher the vascular age.

The researchers took measurements six months after a Covid infection and again after 12 months.  

They found the average increase in PWV in women with it mildly was 0.55 meters per second, 0.60 in women hospitalized, and 1.09 for women treated in intensive care.

In a 60-year-old woman, an increase in 0.5 meters per second was considered ‘clinically relevant’ as it is equal to five years of aging, and raises risk of heart disease.

Professor Bruno said there are ‘several possible explanations’ for why the virus accelerates this vascular aging.

 

But she added, it is likely due to the way in which the virus is able to infect cells due to something called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors. 

The virus’s interaction with these receptors in the lining of blood vessels, she said ‘may result in vascular dysfunction and accelerated vascular aging’.

However, it may also be a result of ‘our body’s inflammation and immune responses, which defend against infections’, she added

On the increased aging in women, she said: ‘One of the main differences between women and men could be differences in the function of the immune system.

‘Women mount a more rapid and robust immune response, which can protect them from an infection.’

Fortunately, she added, vascular aging can be addressed with lifestyle changes, as well as drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

The team will continue to follow the participants over the following years to determine if accelerated vascular aging leads to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

In a recent editorial on the findings, Dr Behnood Bikdeli from Harvard Medical School said: ‘Although the acute threat of the Covid-19 pandemic has waned, a new challenge emerged in its aftermath.’

This is, he explained, post-acute Covid-19 syndrome—defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as symptoms that last at least two months post-infection.

He continued: ‘The question is whether we can find modifiable targets to prevent this in future surges of infection.’

He also added that the findings could pave the way for finding ways to help people with symptoms of Covid-induced vascular aging.