The pandemic has presented an additional challenge in cardiovascular care. It has led to increased risk factors, including:
Increased levels of stress.
Weight gain.
Decreased physical activity.
Depression.
In addition to these risk factors, the pandemic has resulted in lapsed care, especially among women. People have not been as likely to prioritize their heart health and seek care from a physician to check their heart. We are very hopeful in the promising research that is being done now. There is a lot of exciting energy feeding back into the community to get people to a better place in their health care.