During the pandemic, deaths from heart attack increased in Colombia

The pandemic that occurred due to Covid-19 between 2020 and 2021 changed and transformed the landscape for Colombians, from the ways of working to the ways of consumption changed; and the emergency, in addition, affected the behavior of diseases in citizens and the causes of death. In the report 'Changes in the trend of morbidity and mortality during the covid-19 pandemic in Colombia: exploring the covid-19 syndemy', presented by the Ministry of Health, it became clear that at the time of the exacerbation of the contagion of covid, the most frequent causes of death in the country were related with high blood pressure, decompensated diabetes and pregnancy-related diseases, while those caused by external factors such as traffic accidents, homicides or suicides had a downward trend.

The increase in deaths due to heart problems is 18% in 2020, that is, while 39,179 people died from these circumstances in 2019, in 2020 the figure rose to 46,349. In addition, the most striking thing is that the greatest increase occurs in people between 25 and 39 years old, since while in 2019 there were 70 deaths from this cause, in 2020 there were 20 more, for a total of 90, which is equivalent to an increase of 28%.

According to the ministry's analysis, this is due to different relevant factors related to the impact of compulsory isolation such as: limitations to access care centers, restriction of service offers to privilege demand arising from covid-19, sedentary lifestyle, anxiety and others.

Another possible explanation may be related to the manifestations of covid-19 in the heart. Some research on patients with this virus has shown the presence of clots that can obstruct circulation in the arteries of the heart, which could lead to a heart attack, however, there is no determining factor so far that this relationship caused mortality in a percentage of the population.

Despite the fact that heart attack increased, undoubtedly the highest mortality in the country was due to covid-19. In February, DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics), showed that during 2021 the leading cause of death in Colombia was the coronavirus. The study, entitled “Vital Statistics, Births and Deaths”, showed that between January and October of that year there were 79,700 deaths from this virus. Similarly, 7,376 suspected deaths of this disease were recorded.

“For the third quarter of 2021 (preliminary) there were 84,719 deaths nationwide, a reduction of 9.8% compared to the same period in 2020. 11.6% of non-fetal deaths that occurred in the third quarter of 2021 occurred in people between the ages of 80 and 84,” the entity explained on its Twitter account, initially. Regarding citizens corresponding to the population of adults over 60 years of age, in that same quarter, the figure fell by more than 6,300 compared to 2020, that is, there were a total of 58,627 deaths between July and September 2021.

As for violent deaths, whether from assault or homicide, in 2021 they increased by 12.6% compared to the same quarter of 2020. This type of death is the leading external cause of death in men. This number of deaths due to external causes is added, in that order, 1,537 deaths due to accidents on land transport, which represents an increase of 36.1% compared to 2020.

“For the third quarter of 2021, deaths from natural causes recorded an annual reduction of 11.5 per cent in men and 0.25 per cent in women. Rest of certain infectious and parasitic diseases, including COVID19, was the main cause of natural death”, highlighted DANE.

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