(WXYZ) — It's cold and flu season and millions of Americans are dealing with symptoms like fever and dehydration from the flu, Covid and RSV. People with heart conditions are at an increased risk from these respiratory viruses.
“When one has a virus, typically they may enter into an inflammatory state. Their cells get activated. The immune system gets activated. They go into sympathetic overdrive so the sympathetic nervous system gets activated. This means that your heart rate can go up. Your blood pressure can go up, and this increases the workload on the heart,” said Dr. Icilma V. Fergus, cardiologist at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital.
Inflammation from viruses can sometimes lead to heart failure.
“If you already have risk factors that lead to heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, other things like that, then you may actually end up having a heart attack,” Dr. Fergus said.
If you have heart disease and are feeling symptoms from a viral infection, don't assume it's nothing to worry about.
“Feeling extremely tired or you may feel your heart's racing. You may feel like you're going to pass out. You may feel dizzy, a severe headache, chest pain, shortness of breath. These are warning signals that actually… indicate that you may seek or should seek help,” Dr. Fergus said.
To help prevent illness, experts recommend staying up to date on flu and Covid vaccines and getting an RSV vaccine also if you're eligible.
