Covid-19 emerged principally as a respiratory illness with high fatality rate. With growing volume of medical data of Covid-19 patients, it is now considered as a multi-organ system disease.

Immediate target of Covid-19 still remains the respiratory organs but there is another condition, called long-Covid, which is bothering doctors and scientists world over. It has been found that some of the Covid-19 patients come back to hospitals with ailments in heart, brain and kidney.

Doctors now advise a recovered patient to watch out for symptoms signalling a cardiac problem. It is being called long-Covid, first reported in 2020 itself. Now more and more evidence of Covid-19 having long-term adverse effects on the body are coming up.

Evidence of adverse effect of Covid-19 on heart was found in various studies, some of which could be seen , The Lancet report here and another JAMA report based on analysis of patients in Wuhan, China here.

Covid-19 causes oxygen starvation in many cases. Low oxygen levels in the body increases pressure on heart which at times weaken the cardiac muscles leading to certain ailments including the condition of heart failure.

Increased pressure on heart raises the blood pressure that can put tremendous pressure on blood vessels and cause coronary artery disease.

Weakened heart is a situation when early medical attention is needed. It is advisable for recovered Covid-19 patients, especially those with severe symptoms, to undergo tests to check the health of the heart in weeks after recovery.

Some symptoms that Covid-19 patients are advised to monitor after their discharge are:

• Discomfort in chest
• Spreading pain or pressure in arms, usually right or left
• Unexplained profuse sweating
• Feeling of irregular heartbeat
• Excessive tiredness or exhaustion without much physical work

If these symptoms are experienced by persons who have recovered from Covid-19, they should seek medical care. Those with prior heart condition must go for a medical check-up.

Undergoing heart check-up after recovering from Covid-19 may determine or rule out the impact of coronavirus infection among the patients. Early diagnosis also means early treatment, which can save lives.