Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular diseases and risk-factors

Summary

During the COVID-19 epidemic, there was a temporary significant reduction in health care. The number of patients admitted for acute coronary syndromes and acute heart failure decreased, and there was an increase in out-of-hospital cases of circulatory arrest and out-of-hospital mortality, causing more than a 5% increase in cardiovascular mortality. In all areas affected by the pandemic the number of clinical and laboratory tests has decreased, which led to deterioration in the control of cardiovascular risk factors: the mean values of blood pressure, cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin have increased. Now that the major waves of the epidemic are (perhaps already) fading, we need to focus on all modifiable risk factors in our patients, including hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes, and aggressively tackle all these factors to minimize the long-term effects of the epidemic on our patients’ health. Increasing the use of fixed-dose combinations of antihypertensive drugs as well as fixed-dose combinations of the antihypertensive and hypolipidemic drugs can, thanks to much better patient adherence to treatment, significantly improve the control of hypertension and dyslipidemia in our patients.

Keywords:

hypertension – cardiovascular disease – diabetes mellitus – dyslipidemia – COVID-19 – coronavirus – fixed-combination drug