COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) – Interventional cardiologists at the St. Elizabeth Heart and Vascular Institute said they are seeing a dangerous trend in 2021. They have a serious warning for all of us when it comes to taking care of our own hearts.

“In the last two months, we’ve cared for more heart attacks in our hospital system than in the last two years,” said Dr. DP Suresh.

Our hearts may be paying the price for a tough pandemic year, according to Dr. Suresh.

“Some of them haven’t come to the doctor’s office in a while, so they’re now having more symptoms,” added Dr. Suresh. “They present to the hospitals later, so heart disease is something we’re going to see more and more with COVID-19 in the whole of 2021.”

According to a recent survey by Ohio researchers, during the pandemic, 1 in 3 people with heart disease stopped taking their heart-related medications. 65% have put off check-ups or screenings, due to fear of contracting COVID-19.

Here’s what Dr. Suresh told us we should know:

“COVID-19, you know, we’ve lost 500,000 lives in North America. We lose close to a million lives in heart disease and stroke, so the idea is heart disease and stroke is something we have to constantly keep an eye on.”

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