Long COVID patients face a higher risk of heart problems and heart arrhythmias. According to the Karolinska Institute, even younger adults who have never fallen ill before can be hospitalized if symptoms worsen, according to new research by a team of experts at
Long COVID refers to the set of persistent symptoms that patients may suffer from after being infected with a severe case of COVID.
Researchers noted that between 10% and 30% of people who have had a COVID infection may develop long COVID. Of those suffering from long COVID, researchers noted a higher risk of developing heart attacks, arrhythmia, and heart failure.
The findings, published on April 1, 2026, in the Karolinska Institute’s journal eClinicalMedicine, examined medical data from more than 1.2 million people in Sweden. Scientists focused on those who had been diagnosed with COVID either at home or through their family physician and were not admitted to hospitals to investigate the health of their hearts over the next four years.
They found a worrying pattern, whereby patients with long COVID had an increased risk of having a cardiovascular event. The risk was 18% for women with long COVID versus 8% for women without long COVID. For men, it was 21% for long COVID sufferers versus 11% for those without long COVID. In women, there was an increased risk of heart failure or peripheral vascular disease. But there is no clear link between COVID and heart problems, as per a researcher.
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According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), men and women were equally exposed to greater risks; the consequences observed in women were remarkable. For instance, females with long-term COVID had double the chances of being diagnosed with heart disease, after adjusting for variables like age and health conditions. Besides having more cases of arrhythmia, women also experienced a greater chance of heart failure and limb vascular disorders. However, no correlation was found between long COVID and stroke risk in males or females.
The researchers believe that doctors need to adopt a more systematic approach when observing long COVID patients. This is because those affected by the condition are normally healthy individuals; therefore, it might not be apparent that their hearts are under pressure. Results show that long COVID can be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, even in younger people who were previously healthy.
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