Covid-19 continues to be a powerful risk factor for future heart attacks and strokes for almost three years following the infection, a large new study suggests.

The findings suggest that being hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2020 was a "coronary artery disease risk equivalent," conferring a higher risk for future heart attacks, strokes or death in people without a history of cardiovascular disease than the risk for people with a history who didn't have COVID.

New research suggests that COVID-19 infections may have long-term implications for cardiac health, such as increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Per the release, severe COVID-19 was a “coronary artery disease risk equivalent,” increasing the risk for heart attack, stroke and other problems down the road. The impact was “at least as much as having a prior history of cardiovascular disease. In this case, the risk from COVID-19 hospitalization was even slightly higher.”

In the nearly three years following the acute infection in 2020, the study’s authors found double the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death compared with the uninfected group. Somewhat surprisingly, the elevated risks did not abate over the three years of study, suggesting a problematic staying effect.

People who caught COVID-19 early in the pandemic might be more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes than those with a heart disease, a new study reveals.

COVID-19 could increase the risk of major cardiac events, like strokes and heart attacks, or death from any cause, according to a new study.