Reduced hospitalizations due to non-coronavirus suggest that people are skipping important medical care

Their results included a 39% reduction in heart attacks and a 49% reduction in stroke cases at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Researchers noted that their findings, coupled with an increase in the number of non-coronavirus deaths at home, reveal a pattern of disappointment.

Decrease in hospitalization

“I was the doctor in the intensive care unit in March because of the surge, but I realized that I had never had a shocking traditional heart attack throughout the week,” said the director. Dr. Jason Wasfi said in August an outcome study at the Massachusetts General Heart Center in Boston. Wasfy was accustomed to seeing about 8-9 heart attacks a week. “I have never seen anything like that.”

Wasfy and his colleagues examined the hospitalization rates for multiple medical conditions at eight hospitals in the system.

“What we found was horrifying,” he said.

They investigated the common serious cardiac emergencies before and after the pandemic and found that their incidence was reduced by almost half. However, there was no medical explanation suggesting that there are few health emergencies that people are actually experiencing.

“It really suggested that the patient had these horrific emergencies at home and didn’t come to the hospital,” Wasfy said.

In his observation, Wasfie wasn’t the only one. Healthcare professionals across the country have begun to warn that postponing care during a pandemic can cost some people their lives.

The American Heart Association, the American Emergency Medical College, and several other medical groups have issued statements urging people to call 911 for treatment in an emergency, despite concerns about exposure to the coronavirus. Announced in April.

Doctors are beginning to realize that delays in care are straining people’s bodies.

The result of delayed care

During the pandemic, cardiologists have seen severe cardiac complications and recurrent injuries that were not seen years ago.

Wasfy explained that he had a ventricular septal defect in the intensive care unit this summer. This can happen if the heart attack is untreated and the heart is punctured.

“I’m a cardiologist and haven’t seen one of them for a long time,” he said. “This was relatively common in the 1960s and 1970s, for example.”

Doctors report seeing other conditions, such as ventricular arrhythmias and left ventricular hypertrophy, that may not have occurred if people sought treatment for a heart attack earlier.

“It’s a resurgence of what we haven’t seen for a long time,” said Dr. Mariel Jessup, Chief Science and Medical Officer of the American Heart Association, in August.

The development of rapid care has made it possible to deal with many conditions before they get worse, but only when people seek care.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the last decade trying to get people to the emergency room quickly for heart attacks, because every minute is important,” said Jessup. “That’s the difference between being debilitated with heart failure.”

Health professionals are also worried about stroke. Dr. Malveeka Sharma, a neurologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, published a study in August, revealing a 31% reduction in stroke hospitalizations during the coronavirus blockade.

Sharma said seeking immediate treatment is the best way for stroke patients to prevent another stroke.

“Even if you have mild symptoms, you are at greatest risk of having another stroke within the first few weeks to months after any of these events occur,” Sharma said. ..

She said that treatment should ideally begin within hours of the patient’s onset of symptoms, which can cause cognitive impairment even in non-severe strokes, making it difficult to return to normal life. Said there is.

Why don’t patients come?

Multiple factors may be involved, including loss of income and insurance, and changes in the patient’s lifestyle.

Dr. Ehtisham Mahmud, Head of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, asked some of the patients with complications who were delayed in treatment why they didn’t seek help early.

“The general answer I got is that most patients are scared,” Mahmud said. “They don’t want to go to the hospital because they feel that going to the hospital increases the risk of getting Covid.”

Even during the pandemic, health professionals emphasized that emergency medical care is available and that it is safe.

The American Heart Association’s “Don’t Die on Suspicion” campaign encourages people to seek emergency medical care with the first signs of a heart attack or stroke.

“If you feel sick, please come in and check out,” Jessup said. “Don’t sit at home and start looking for symptoms.”