Medications for high blood pressure reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid-19 by one-third, a study suggests.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia study 28,000 patients taking antihypertensives, a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure.
They found that the risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19 fell by one-third for people taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEi) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs).
Lead researcher Dr Vassilios Vassiliou, of the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, said: “We found that there was a significantly lower risk of death and critical outcomes, so that they may in fact play a protective role, especially in patients with hypertension.
“Covid-19 patients with high blood pressure who took ACEi / ARB medication were 0.67 times less likely to have a critical or fatal outcome than those who did not take these medications.
“Our research provides substantial evidence to recommend continued use of these medications if the patients have already taken them.”
Although experts are unsure about what drives the protective effect, it may be that the drugs prevent the formation of ACE2, an enzyme that constricts blood fats but also helps coronavirus enter the body.
Research in June found that people with high blood pressure were twice as likely to die from coronavirus as those without.
In addition, they found that those who avoided medication for the condition were at an even greater risk of dying from Covid-19.
The study found that four percent of patients with hypertension and coronavirus died, compared with 1.1 percent without high blood pressure.
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