A new international study published in the journal European Heart Journal suggests that Covid-19 can accelerate the ageing of blood vessels, particularly in women, unvaccinated people, and patients suffering from long Covid.

Experts have described the findings as alarming and called for further investigation.

Blood vessels naturally become stiffer with age, which increases the likelihood of heart attacks or strokes. According to specialists, Covid-19 infection seems to accelerate this process.

For the study, researchers examined 2,390 individuals across 16 countries. They included people who had never had Covid-19, those who experienced only a mild case of the illness, patients who required hospital treatment, and others who had been admitted to intensive care. Vascular measurements were taken six and twelve months after infection.

On average, participants who had contracted Covid-19 showed stiffer blood vessels compared with those who had not. Vaccinated individuals generally had less stiffening than those who were unvaccinated. The effect was found to be significantly more pronounced in women than in men.

The authors suggest this may be linked to higher Covid-related mortality among men, which could have introduced a survival bias in the male participants studied. Overall, the vascular ageing effect in infected individuals appeared to stabilise or diminish after a certain period of time.