In a new study, researchers found that patients with raised blood pressure have a two-fold increased risk of dying from the coronavirus COVID-19 compared to patients without high blood pressure.
In addition, the study found that patients with high blood pressure who were not taking medication to control the condition were at even greater risk of dying from COVID-19.
Some high blood pressure drugs, such as ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, were not linked to an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 and, in fact, maybe protective.
The research was conducted by a team in China and Ireland.
The team analyzed data from 2866 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Huo Shen Shan hospital in Wuhan, China, between 5 February and 15 March 2020.
The hospital was opened on 5 February exclusively to treat coronavirus patients. Of these patients, 29.5% (850) had a medical history of high blood pressure (hypertension).
The researchers found that 34 out of 850 hypertensive patients (4%) with coronavirus died compared to 22 out of 2027 patients without hypertension (1.1%) – a 2.12-fold increased risk.
Among the patients with high blood pressure who were not taking medication for the condition, 11 out 140 (7.9%) died from coronavirus compared to 23 out of 710 (3.2%) of those who were taking medication—2.17-fold increased risk.
In a meta-analysis, the researchers used the data from the Huo Shen Wan patients with data from nearly 2,300 patients in three other studies to investigate the death rates in patients being treated with drugs to control blood pressure levels by targeting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS).
These drugs include angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).
Other, non-RAAS inhibiting drugs used for treating high blood pressure include beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers (CCBs) or diuretics.
They found a lower risk of death among the 183 patients treated with RAAS inhibitors than in 527 patients treated with other drugs.
However, the researchers say this result should be treated with caution as the number of patients in this analysis was small and so it could be due to chance.
The team says that it is important that patients with high blood pressure realize that they are at increased risk of dying from COVID-19.
They should take good care of themselves during this pandemic and they need more attention if they are infected with the coronavirus.
In contrast to the team’s initial hypothesis, they found that RAAS inhibitors, such as ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, were not linked to an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 and, in fact, maybe protective.
Therefore, they suggest that patients should not discontinue or change their usual antihypertensive treatment unless instructed by a physician.
The lead authors of the study are Professors Fei Li and Ling Tao from Xijing Hospital.
The study is published in the European Heart Journal.
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