Over 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 in just four months. A milestone that we never hoped to reach. In that time we learned a lot about the novel coronavirus, a unique killer unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
There is still much we don’t know even as we race towards completing a vaccine in record time. But a clearer picture is starting to emerge. Including the fact that the virus may be more than purely a respiratory illness. It may also be targeting blood vessels. Systematically.
According to Elemental on Medium:
“Months into the pandemic, there is now a growing body of evidence to support the theory that the novel coronavirus can infect blood vessels, which could explain not only the high prevalence of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks, but also provide an answer for the diverse set of head-to-toe symptoms that have emerged.
‘All these Covid-associated complications were a mystery. We see blood clotting, we see kidney damage, we see inflammation of the heart, we see stroke, we see encephalitis [swelling of the brain],’ says William Li, MD, president of the Angiogenesis Foundation. ‘A whole myriad of seemingly unconnected phenomena that you do not normally see with SARS or H1N1 or, frankly, most infectious diseases.’
‘If you start to put all of the data together that’s emerging, it turns out that this virus is probably a vasculotropic virus, meaning that it affects the [blood vessels],’ says Mandeep Mehra, MD, medical director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center.”
It all seems to obvious in hindsight. All of these seemingly unrelated and bizarre symptoms and side effects actually being interconnected after all. Sharing one key thing in common: the blood stream. Hopefully, now that we know this we can develop more effective treatments and be on the lookout for key early warning signs to save lives. Be on the lookout for more pieces to the puzzle. More clues to further help us understand the full extent of this deadly disease. Fully understand exactly what it is that we’re up against.
It turns out that COVID-19 may be effecting our blood vessels as well.
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