Categories: Health

BP medication may improve Covid-19 survival rates

&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;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).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;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).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;&quot;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,&quot; said study lead author Vassilios Vassiliou from the University of East Anglia in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;&quot;We wanted to find out what the impact of these medications is for people with Covid-19,&quot; Vassiliou added. Therefore, the research team studied the outcomes for patients taking antihypertensives — looking particularly at what they call &#039;critical&#039; outcomes such as being admitted to intensive care or being put on a ventilator, and death.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;They compared data from Covid-19 patients who were taking ACEi or ARB medications with those who were not — focusing on whether they experienced &#039;critical&#039; events (admission to intensive care and invasive or non-invasive ventilation) and death.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;p1&quot;&gt;&quot;We found that a third of Covid-19 patients with high blood pressure and a quarter of patients overall were taking an ACEi/ARBs,&quot; Vassiliou said. This is likely due to the increased risk of infection in patients with co-morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes.&lt;/p&gt;.

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