Heart attacks follow two weeks after treatment of infection

DEAR DR. ROACH: My mom had a throat and palate infection that was treated in 2017, and about two weeks later, she had a heart attack. In 2023, she had pneumonia and was briefly hospitalized and treated, but again about two weeks later, she had another heart attack. We asked her cardiologist if there is a relationship with either infections or the treatment of infections causing a heart attack, and he was not aware of any. But this seems too unlikely to be a coincidence. What is your experience on this? – A.C.S.

ANSWER: A heart attack happens when the demand by the heart for blood is greater than the ability of the blood vessels to provide blood to the heart. In practice, this almost always means that there are blockages in the blood vessels. However, an increase in the workload of the heart, such as strenuous exercise or an infection (fever tends to increase heart rate, and the blood flow from the heart usually increases with serious infection), can be what tips a person over to a heart attack. It’s possible that this is what happened with your mom. The timing of two weeks after the event is longer than expected, but it’s possible.