Gain-of-Dysfunction: COVID-19 May Increase Aging Of Blood Vessels Among Women: Study

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Women infected with COVID-19 were more likely to have aged blood vessels, according to a new study.

Rosa Maria Bruno, a professor with Université Paris Cité in France, and co-authors examined 1,024 individuals who participated in a prospective study across 34 centers in 16 countries, including centers in Austria, Brazil, and Canada. They aimed to figure out whether people who were infected with COVID-19 experienced faster aging of blood vessels, using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, a biomarker of artery stiffness.

The pulse wave velocity was measured six months after COVID-19 infection and 12 months after infection. The results were compared to people who had not been infected with COVID-19.

Compared to that group, those who did have an infection had higher velocity, the researchers said in the paper, published on Aug. 17 by the European Heart Journal.

The levels were higher among women than in men, equaling up to 10 years of early vascular aging.

“There are several possible explanations for the vascular effects of Covid,” Bruno said in a statement. “The Covid-19 virus acts on specific receptors in the body, called the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors, that are present on the lining of the blood vessels. The virus uses these receptors to enter and infect cells. This may result in vascular dysfunction and accelerated vascular ageing. Our body’s inflammation and immune responses, which defend against infections, may be also involved.”

She added, “One of the reasons for the difference 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 infection. However, this same response can also increase damage to blood vessels after the initial infection.”

One in 10 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the time of their first visit. Researchers looked at whether vaccination played a role in vascular aging and concluded it did not. Women who were vaccinated had lower levels of vascular aging, whereas vaccinated and unvaccinated men had about the same levels.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding came from multiple institutions, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. A small control group was among the limitations of the study.

In an accompanying editorial, several researchers not involved in the study said that it “delivers an important message to clinicians, researchers, and health policymakers: COVID-19’s vascular legacy is real, measurable, and with a plausible likelihood of sex-specific findings.”

The researchers said that further investigation of the matter is warranted, as well as figuring out how to mitigate adverse outcomes in people with aged blood vessels.

ZH: NOT medical advice, but this may be worth looking into…