BP medication may improve Covid-19 survival rates

<p class="p1">In a fight against the novel coronavirus, researchers have found that medication for high blood pressure could improve Covid-19 survival rates and reduce the severity of the infection.</p>
<p class="p1">For the study, published in the journal Current Atherosclerosis Reports, the research team studied 28,000 patients taking antihypertensives — a class of drugs that are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure).</p>
<p class="p1">They found that the risk of severe Covid-19 illness and death was reduced for patients with high blood pressure who were taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB).</p>
<p class="p1">"At the start of the pandemic, there was concern that specific medications for high blood pressure could be linked with worse outcomes for Covid-19 patients," said study lead author Vassilios Vassiliou from the University of East Anglia in the UK.</p>
<p class="p1">"We wanted to find out what the impact of these medications is for people with Covid-19," Vassiliou added. Therefore, the research team studied the outcomes for patients taking antihypertensives — looking particularly at what they call 'critical' outcomes such as being admitted to intensive care or being put on a ventilator, and death.</p>
<p class="p1">The team analyzed data from 19 studies related to Covid-19 and ACEi and ARB medications. The meta-analysis involved more than 28,000 patients and is the largest and most detailed such study to date.</p>
<p class="p1">They compared data from Covid-19 patients who were taking ACEi or ARB medications with those who were not — focusing on whether they experienced 'critical' events (admission to intensive care and invasive or non-invasive ventilation) and death.</p>
<p class="p1">"We found that a third of Covid-19 patients with high blood pressure and a quarter of patients overall were taking an ACEi/ARBs," Vassiliou said. This is likely due to the increased risk of infection in patients with co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes.</p>.