Study allays fears that blood pressure drugs worsen COVID-19 for patients with hypertension

COVID-19 patients with hypertension are already at a higher risk of death, so it was worrisome when researchers pondered whether taking blood pressure drugs could exacerbate the illness. The medical community was relieved, however, when a study published last week in the European Heart Journal found that taking drugs that control hypertension actually reduced mortality, CNBC reports.

Among nearly 2,900 people hospitalized in February and March at Huo Shen Shan hospital in Wuhan, China, patients with hypertension had twice the risk of death and were more likely to need ventilation than those without, but among the patients who did have high pressure, those treating it with medication significantly lowered their fatality risk.

The findings were surprising — one of the authors, Fei Li of Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, China, was expecting the opposite results — but hopeful, even though normal caveats apply (evidence is from observation rather than randomized trials). "We suggest that patients should not discontinue or change their usual antihypertensive treatment unless instructed by a physician," Li said.

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As things stand, the study relates to COVID-19 patients with high blood pressure, which is still crucial considering how many people in the United States suffer from hypertension. Not only do the drugs give those patients a much higher chance of surviving the coronavirus, but it also means they won't have to stop taking their medication, which adds another layer of general risk.

But there's also talk that these drugs could be studied as an actual treatment for COVID-19, Dr. Luis Ruilope of the Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre in Madrid wrote in an editorial in the journal, which makes sense since there's growing evidence COVID-19 may be a vascular disease, rather than a purely respiratory one.