Study: BP medicine linked to lower COVID-19 death risk in hypertension patients
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 08-06-2020
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Patients with high blood pressure who are not taking medication to control the condition may be at a greater risk of dying from novel coronavirus infection, according to a review of studies which says drugs treating the underlying disease may offer protection in some COVID-19 patients. The research, published in the European Heart Journal, noted that patients with elevated blood pressure have a two-fold increased risk of dying from the novel coronavirus infection, compared to those without the underlying disease.
In the study, scientists, including those from Xijing Hospital in China, assessed data from 2,866 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to Huo Shen Shan hospital in China, between February 5 and March 15. They said nearly 30 per cent of these patients (850) had a medical history of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
According to the study, led by Fei Li and Ling Tao from Xijing Hospital, 34 out of 850 hypertensive patients (4 per cent) with coronavirus died compared to 22 out of 2027 patients without hypertension (1.1 per cent). The scientists said this was a 2.12-fold increased risk of dying from the disease after they adjusted for several health-related factors that could affect the results, such as age, sex, and other medical conditions.
Among the patients with hypertension who were not taking medication for the condition, the study said 11 out 140 people (nearly 8 per cent) died from coronavirus, compared to 23 out of 710 (3.2 per cent) of those who were taking medication - a 2.17-fold increased risk after adjusting for confounding factors. Analysing data from nearly 2,300 patients in three other studies, the researchers probed into the death rates in patients being treated with drugs to control blood pressure levels which targeted the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) of the human body.