You caught COVID. The test turned positive, and for several days you were down: fever, cough, and a fatigue that made even simple tasks feel impossible. But eventually your fever broke, your cough eased, and the test came back negative. When your energy started to return, you were convinced your body had fully recovered.
You felt fine. Your lungs cleared. Your test was negative. But your arteries may have just aged five years.
That was the unsettling finding from a major new international study in the European Heart Journal. Known as the CARTESIAN study, it followed more than 2,300 people across 16 countries and confirmed what many suspected: COVID-19 didn’t just affect the lungs. It accelerated the aging of blood vessels, a phenomenon scientists call early vascular ageing.
COVID Doesn’t Just Steal Breath, It Steals Years From Your Arteries
Researchers measured arterial stiffness using pulse wave velocity (PWV), the gold standard for assessing vascular aging. Higher PWV means arteries are stiffer, behaving as if they belong to someone older, and strongly predicts heart attack, stroke, and dementia.
Here’s the crucial link: in CARTESIAN, over 90% of PWV measurements came from SphygmoCor® technology, the same system trusted in cardiology labs and clinical trials worldwide. That very technology now powers The Pulse by CONNEQT Health, putting gold-standard vascular testing in your hands at home.
The findings were clear:
- People with prior infection showed stiffer arteries than those never infected. On average, infection was linked to about five years of added vascular aging.
- In women, even mild infections produced this effect, with PWV rising by as much as 1 meter per second in severe cases.
- In men, PWV increases were smaller and not statistically significant after adjustment.
- Women who required intensive care showed the steepest increases, nearly eight years of added vascular age.
- Women with long COVID symptoms such as fatigue and breathlessness had higher PWV than those fully recovered.
- At 12 months, PWV stabilized or slightly improved in COVID groups, but did not return to baseline.
COVID didn’t just come and go. For many, especially women, it rewound the clock on their arteries.
Why Arterial Stiffness Matters More Than a Traditional Cuff Reading
Arterial stiffness isn’t something you can feel, and it doesn’t show up on a basic home cuff. Traditional brachial blood pressure readings only capture pressure at the arm. They miss central pressures, wave reflections, and oxygen supply, the very signals that reveal whether your arteries are straining under hidden pressure.
Think of it this way: a cuff gives you a snapshot; arterial intelligence gives you a forecast.
That’s why PWV matters. It shows how quickly your vascular system is aging, long before symptoms appear.
From Gold-Standard Research to At-Home Action
The CARTESIAN study relied on SphygmoCor® technology. That same system now powers The Pulse by CONNEQT Health, giving you access to the very signals researchers used to track vascular aging, right from home.
With the Pulse, you don’t just see a brachial reading. You see:
- Central blood pressure (CBP): the pressure your heart and organs actually face.
- Augmentation pressure (AP) and augmentation index (AIx): early indicators of arterial stiffness.
- SEVR (subendocardial viability ratio): whether your heart muscle is getting enough oxygen.
- Heart rate and brachial blood pressure: essential vitals that provide context for every reading.
Clinical-grade technology, without the clinic.
The Hidden Reason Women Showed Greater Vascular Aging
Scientists believe COVID may accelerate vascular aging by targeting ACE2 receptors in the vessel lining, sparking inflammation that stiffens arteries. Women showed a stronger effect in the CARTESIAN study, which may be tied to immune response differences, a defense that fights infection more aggressively but can also drive more post-viral inflammation.
Still, COVID survivors as a group showed signs of stiffer arteries, with women driving the clearest and most consistent changes in the study.
You Can’t Undo COVID, But You Can Change What Comes Next
COVID-19 highlighted how quickly arteries can change. The good news is that vascular age isn’t fixed. It can improve with exercise, better sleep, stress management, diet, and medication when needed.
The Pulse gives you a way to see those changes in real time, not years later after symptoms strike. By measuring the same signals used in the CARTESIAN study, you can act earlier, track progress, and work with your physician to stay ahead.
COVID changed more than how we breathe. For many, it changed how fast their arteries are aging. The Pulse is one of the few ways to see that change and respond before it shapes your future risk.
Your age is measured in years. Your health is measured in arteries.
