Age is not a factor in heart disease risk

Heart issues can attack all ages

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It is a common myth that heart disease does not a ect the younger population. However, Dr. Je Park, a cardiologist with Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates at e Medical Center of Aurora says that is a common myth.

“High long standing blood pressure issues with long standing cholesterol issues, long standing diabetes, yeah, that puts you at higher risk for sure,” said Park. “But there’s de nitely a genetic component.”

Heart disease can present itself in many ways to di erent people and may not always be obvious.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes and unhealthy eating patterns are appearing among younger people and placing them at a higher risk for heart disease.

“ e patients are getting younger, we’ve had heart attacks in patients who are in their twenties,” said Park. ere are certain genetic conditions where individuals are at increased risk of having a heart attack, Park said. Cholesterol issues is a primary indicator.

One example given by Park is a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH. is is a genetic disorder where people have high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. People have a predisposition for heart disease at that point as the body can- not recycle bad lipids, Park said.

“You’re like ‘I’m too young to see a doctor’ and I’m guilty of that same concept, you know, but it’s a matter of if you get identi ed early on, it’s a matter of your treatment starts earlier and you’re protected early,” said Park.

Park says it’s never too soon to check one’s heart health. e American Heart Association has ways to help prevent heart disease throughout each stage of life, starting when at 20 years and older.

Heart disease is a man’s disease

“ at’s a false, false, false statement,” said Park. “I think I’ve treated more women than I have treated men, or at least equally, and I guess it’s a matter of what’s the cause of the heart disease that you’re talking about.”

According to Park, heart disease and heart attacks in women present them- selves di erently from men.

It might notbe the typical chest pain and it might not be the typical exertional component that people tend to think about, said Park. Women can feel some indigestion but end up having a heart attack.

A map presented by the CDC shows heart disease death rates among women 35 and older across the U.S.

According to the CDC, between 2018 and 2020, the Colorado average estimated heart disease death rate for all races and ethnicities in women 35 and older was 195 per 100,000 people. e average estimated number for Douglas County was 154.

Symptoms do not always occur while the body is doing physical activity, Park said, symptoms can arise while the body is resting.

“Even if you’re feeling great, you never know,” said Park.

Report on long COVID sees big numbers

Anshutz. Jolley is also the medical director of the UCHealth Post-COVID Clinic, one site of a national study looking at recovery after COVID.

Chelsey B., 49 after COVID.”

BY JOHN DALEY COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

State o cials have released their rst estimate of how many people in Colorado have been hit by long COVID-19. e gure is staggering: Data suggest that between 230,000 and 650,000 Coloradans may have been a ected.

With a state population of nearly 6 million, the data suggest as many as one in 10 Coloradans have experienced long COVID, according to the report from e O ce of Saving People Money on Healthcare in the lieutenant governor’s o ce. And many of them have struggled to nd treatments and answers about what can be a life-altering illness.

People with post-COVID conditions can have a wide range of symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog and headaches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ose may be prolonged, lasting weeks, months, or even years after infection.

Some patients described their challenges in a January segment on CPR’s Colorado Matters.

“I think that’s what’s so unclear about long COVID and potentially concerning about those numbers is that we certainly know some people recover,” but most haven’t, said Dr. Sarah Jolley, a researcher with CU

Jolley said only 30 to 40 percent of long COVID patients have returned to their individual health baseline so far, based on what she’s observed and seen in research.

“ ere are a number of folks where symptoms persist much longer and so it’s hard to estimate what proportion of that 600,000 will have longerterm symptoms versus shorter-term long COVID symptoms,” she said. “I would say the minority of individuals that we’ve seen have had complete recovery.” e implications of that are enormous, Jolley said, both in terms of so-called long-haulers’ quality of life as well as Colorado’s workforce, education, health care and other systems. e report includes testimonials from Coloradans that provide a window into what its authors described as the “immense human costs” of the illness:

Jolley said the best protection and prevention against long COVID is getting fully vaccinated, including the latest booster. “We know that vaccination lessens the risk of long COVID, lessens the severity of initial disease,” she said, noting the lagging number of people getting the omicron booster in Colorado. Currently, only about a quarter of eligible people in the state have received the omicron booster, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard, far below the uptake for the initial series of vaccines.

“I went from being a t, active, successful and nancially secure professional in the prime of life to a broken — and broke — person,” Chelsey reported. “COVID kills some people outright; many of us with long COVID are dying, too — just very slowly and painfully.”

Melissa, 54

“Four months after my initial symptoms in March 2020, my heart still raced even though I was resting,” Melissa reported. “I could not stay in the sun for long periods; it zapped all of my energy. I had gastrointestinal problems, brain fog, extreme fatigue, ringing in my ears and chest pain.”

Melissa said her condition improved but reported that she was still feeling symptoms nearly three years after her initial COVID infection.

Amanda, 35

Amanda reported testing positive for the coronavirus in November 2020. “COVID has wrecked the person I thought I was before. I now have been forced to go back to full time work against my cardiologist recommendations,” she said.

“ is was in fear of losing my job I’ve had for 7 years! I am 35 years old and have heart problems I’ve never had before,” including a racing heart rate that becomes elevated from a laying down position to standing.

“I am newly engaged and scared to think about having children due to what COVID has done to my body. I am 100 percent a di erent person e report also notes there’s a signi cant overlap between long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. One resident named Jane described suffering from that condition.

“ e illness severely limits my participation in my grandchildren’s lives, and my own daily life. I can only be vertical for one to one and a half hours at a time, and then I have to rest for an extended period,” she said. “I miss out on so much, and activities of daily living such as housekeeping, exercising, and socializing are severely limited.” e long COVID report is the rst such annual summary authored by e O ce of Saving People Money on Healthcare for the governor and lawmakers. e state aims to develop baseline data and monitor the e ects of COVID-19 on Colorado’s economy, workforce, medical and long-term care needs, health care a ordability and educational attainment. e report notes the illness is uncharted territory, both for medicine and government policy. It recommends better data collection and disease surveillance, collaboration between various institutions and improved care access for patients facing challenges at home, work or school.

Another data point about the impact of long COVID comes from insurance claims. e Center for Improving Value in Health Care provided the state with a dataset of

SEE COVID, P23