Healthcare providers says neglected preventative care is catching up with patients

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A lot of preventive care was missed in this pandemic time.

A new study projects what it could cost in hearts and lives.

There are new concerns about the aftermath of a recent study which showed many people stopped taking their medications for heart disease and blood pressure during the pandemic.

In fact, as many as half a million in a study in the released in the journal Nature likely missed out on even starting medication to lower blood pressure during the pandemic simply because they didn’t want to see a doctor.

That stopping of medicine, delaying medicine, or never getting that medicine, the authors speculated, means in the pandemic and even now, it’s having an effect on people.

“There's a significant increase in stroke, heart attack, and death,” Dr. Dean Kereiakes said.

So much so that the authors of this study projected that that untreated high blood pressure would lead to 13,500 additional heart events, more than 2,000 heart attacks, and 3,000 strokes in this pandemic time.

Dr. Kereiakes of the Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute says even though this study is based on projections, there are concerns real consequences of missed preventive care is now costing lives.

“You know, I’ve always had a saying that there’s not a lot of mulligans in this game, I don’t golf, but there's no do-overs, you got to get it right the first time,” said Dr. Kereiakes.