SARS-CoV-2 infection is linked with early vascular aging in the long term, especially in women, according to a recent study in the European Heart Journal .

In the multicenter CARTESIAN study, researchers found all individuals with COVID, including those with mild cases, had stiffer arteries, as shown by increased carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, than did those who had not been infected, according to Rosa Maria Bruno, MD, PhD, professor at Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre-PARCC, Paris, France, who led the study.

Rosa Maria Bruno, MD, PhD

“You are as old as your arteries, meaning that your blood vessels can be older than your chronological age,” increasing the risk for heart disease, Bruno said.

For the study, Bruno and colleagues categorized 2390 individuals (mean age, 50

See Full Page