DETROIT – As many as 79,000 Americans die after contracting the flu each year, but the reasons behind why some develop life-threatening heart complications has largely been a mystery.
As a healthy 23-year-old, Jen Ludwin didn’t worry too much when she came down with the flu.
“I figured, ‘You know what, I’ll spend seven days in bed and just fight it off and I’d be okay,'” Ludwin said. “I was totally wrong.”
The virus caused Ludwin’s organs to begin to fail. It damaged her lungs and caused bleeding that resulted in amputations.
After spending months fighting for her life, Ludwin is grateful to be alive.
When otherwise healthy people develop severe complications from flu, the explanation can be a mystery.
Understanding why people without cardiovascular disease develop heart problems has been a particular challenge, but a new study by Ohio State Researchers revealed a link between cardiac complications of the flu and a protein that’s critical to fighting it.
You can watch the full story above