Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is highly prevalent in the United States and beyond. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, researchers are keen to understand whether hypertension or the drugs that treat it might interact with the virus.
To date, the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has reached every continent on Earth other than Antarctica. The disease that it causes — COVID-19 — has led to the deaths of thousands of people.
Risk factors are of particular interest to both scientists and the public alike.
Over recent weeks, medical experts have published hundreds of papers examining every aspect of the disease. A recent commentary that appears in the American Journal of Hypertension looks at hypertension.
Overall, the authors conclude that, as it stands, there is no firm evidence that hypertension or blood pressure drugs will increase a person’s risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Similarly, current evidence does not support the theory that individuals with hypertension are more likely to experience worse symptoms of COVID-19 should they contract the virus.
Studies have demonstrated that certain existing conditions are associated with an increased risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and with more severe symptoms of COVID-19.
For instance, a study that investigated 41 patients in Wuhan, China, found that 32% had underlying health conditions — most commonly, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Another study, which appears in JAMA Internal Medicine, followed 201 people with COVID-19. Of these individuals, 84 developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Of the 84 who developed ARDS, 27.4% had hypertension. In comparison, 13.7% of those who did not develop ARDS had hypertension.
However, these associations between hypertension and COVID-19 are not necessarily causal. As the authors of the recent commentary explain:
“[H]ypertension is exceedingly frequent in the elderly, and older people appear to be at particular risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus and of experiencing severe forms and complications of COVID-19.”
In the JAMA