COVID-19: Hypertension medicines may improve survival chances, says new study

Researchers have found that COVID-19 patients taking medicines for hypertension are more likely to survive from the disease and suffer from reduced severity of the illness. According to a study published in the journal Current Atherosclerosis Reports, patients taking medicines for high blood pressure showcased low mortality rates and the severity of the infection was also reduced in comparison to those who did not take hypertension medication.

The study reportedly monitored over 28,000 coronavirus patients who were taking medicines for high blood pressure and found a trend of low risk of deaths. 

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This comes as a big development, especially at a time when the world is battling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by finding a cure to the disease. The study encouraged patients to continue with their hypertension medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was primarily studying the role of high blood pressure medicines in COVID-19 patients in order to better understand the impact of the drugs in people suffering from the disease. The role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors, notably angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was analysed in the study. 

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The study found evidence of beneficial effects in the hypertensive cohort and strongly recommend patients to continue with RAAS inhibitor pharmacotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, however, clearly states there is no evidence to prove that hypertension medication was the primary cause of the low mortality rate among the patients who were monitored for the study. "Although our study sheds light on the association between RAAS blockers and mortality in COVID-19, it begs another question as to whether ACEi/ARB lowers the mortality in these patients. There are no clinical data currently on the effect of ACEi/ARB in COVID-19," the study said.

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COVID-19 pandemic

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to rage havoc across the globe with over 23 million confirmed cases and more than 8,11,000 deaths so far. According to figures by Johns Hopkins University, the United States remains the worst affected country in the world with 5.7 million infections and at least 1,77,000 deaths to date. The United States is followed by Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa in terms of reported cases, while in terms of deaths, Brazil, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom lead the charts after the North American nation. 

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(Image Credit: AP)