Dr Chris on the link between paracetamol and heart disease
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Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium) and is caused most of the time by a viral infection. In rare cases, myocarditis is the result of a toxic reaction to a medication. It’s a serious condition which affects the heart’s capacity to pump blood resulting in a reduced blood supply to all of the organs. Heart inflammation caused by the virus decreases the strength of its contractions and its ability to supply the body with blood.
“In less severe cases of myocarditis, people may not experience any symptoms,” said Montreal Heart Institute.
The health site added: “However, they may feel symptoms similar to those of the flu: headache, fever, sore throat, joint pain and diarrhoea.”
In mild cases, subtle symptoms include slight chest pain or shortness of breath.
In severe cases, the heart becomes too weak to adequately pump enough blood to the rest of your body.
A person is also more susceptible to clots forming in your heart, which could lead to a stroke or heart attack.
Causes
Some known causes of myocarditis include:
Viruses, including those that cause flu-like illnesses, colds, rubella (German measles), gastroenteritis, mononucleosis (mono), and HIV and AIDS
Bacteria, including those that cause strep throat, staph infections, diphtheria, and Lyme disease
Parasites
Drugs
Autoimmune disorders
Exposure to certain toxic substances.
A Denmark study published in BMJ investigated the association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and myocarditis or myopericarditis.
The research involved 4 931 775 individuals aged 12 years or older who were followed from 1 October 2020 to 5 October 2021.
During follow-up, 269 participants developed myocarditis or myopericarditis, of whom 108 (40 percent) were 12-39 years old and 196 (73 percent) were male.
“Of 3 482 295 individuals vaccinated with BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), 48 developed myocarditis or myopericarditis within 28 days from the vaccination date compared with unvaccinated individuals,” noted the study.
Epidemiologist Professor Rickard Ljung of the Swedish Medical Products Agency and his colleagues further explored this in a recent study investigating health data on a total of some 23.1 million people from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden from late December 2020 to early October 2021.
The team looked for incidences of myocarditis and pericarditis and, for each case, considered the subject’s sex, age and vaccination specifics.
They focussed in particular on cases where the inflammatory heart conditions developed within 28 days of either an initial or second vaccination shot.
By the end of the study period, the researchers reported, 81 percent of the subjects had been vaccinated.
Overall, the team identified 1,077 cases of myocarditis and 1,149 of pericarditis among their four study cohorts.
Examining those subjects who had been jabbed, the team found that the likelihood of developing myocarditis was higher following a second dose of coronavirus vaccine.
Specifically, the risk appeared to increase by 75 percent with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, and 557 percent with the Moderna vaccine.
Moreover, the team found that myocarditis risk following two jabs was highest for young men between 16–24 years of age.
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