Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 24;17(4):68-78.
doi: 10.14797/mdcvj.210. eCollection 2021.

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Future Opportunities

Eamon Duffy  1 , Michael Chilazi  1 , Miguel Cainzos-Achirica  2   3 , Erin D Michos  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Future Opportunities

Eamon Duffy et al. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been the defining healthcare issue since its outbreak, consuming healthcare systems and disrupting all aspects of human life throughout 2020 and continuing through 2021. When reviewing cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the first tendency may be to focus on the negative disruption. Months of quarantine, isolation, and missed healthcare visits or delayed care may have exacerbated the epidemic of CVD in the United States. Looking back, however, perhaps it wasn't a lost year as much as a health crisis that better prepared us for the battle to improve cardiovascular health. The pandemic brought new platforms for interacting with patients eager to engage, presenting a unique opportunity to reset how we approach preventive care. In this review, we discuss what the pandemic has taught us about caring for those vulnerable patients who were most afflicted-older adults, persons of color, and people facing adverse socioeconomic circumstances-and who continue to be impacted by CVD. We also identify opportunities for enhanced CVD prevention now boosted by the overnight adoption of telemedicine and other innovative cardiac care models. Lastly, we discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has motivated physicians and patients alike to prioritize our health above all else, if only transiently, and how we can leverage this increased health awareness and investment into long-term, meaningful disease prevention.

Keywords: COVID-19; cardiovascular disease; pandemic; prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the positive and negative impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle and opportunities for healthier living in the post–COVID-19 world.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Four approaches that can reshape primordial cardiovascular prevention and preventive care, each one sharpened by the challenges of the pandemic.
Figure 3
Figure 3
As demonstrated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the three ingredients for patient empowerment include awareness, engagement, and motivation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Woolf SH, Chapman DA, Lee JH. COVID-19 as the Leading Cause of Death in the United States. JAMA. 2021. Jan 12;325(2):123–124. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.24865 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Khan MS, Shahid I, Anker SD, et al. Cardiovascular implications of COVID-19 versus influenza infection: a review. BMC Med. 2020. Dec 18;18(1):403. doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01816-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hendren NS, de Lemos JA, Ayers C, et al. Association of Body Mass Index and Age With Morbidity and Mortality in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19: Results From the American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry. Circulation. 2021. Jan 12;143(2):135–144. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.051936 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Apicella M, Campopiano MC, Mantuano M, Mazoni L, Coppelli A, Del Prato S. COVID-19 in people with diabetes: understanding the reasons for worse outcomes. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2020. Sep;8(9):782–92. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30238-2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hosseinzadeh R, Goharrizi M, Bahardoust M, et al. Should all patients with hypertension be worried about developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? Clin Hypertens. 2021. Jan 15;27(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s40885-021-00161-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed