High Blood Pressure and COVID-19

If you have hypertension, commonly called high blood pressure, and you’re taking a medication called an ACE inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor), make sure you take it regularly. It may—and I repeat, may—provide some protection against the COVID-19 virus. I’ll spend the rest of the week explaining why, but I want you to have that information first because you have no idea what you’ll be exposed to between now and Saturday.

What prompted this urgency? I read a Research Letter in JAMA Network that reported the comorbidities of people who died in 21 hospitals in Wuhan, China, between January 21 and 30, 2020; comorbidities are the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions. The first indicator of morbidity (death) was age and try as we may, we can’t change that. The top modifiable morbidity was hypertension; half the people who died had high blood pressure. The second was diabetes.

Near the end of the short paper, the authors noted that hypertension is not a typical risk factor for sepsis, the uncontrolled immune-system response seen in the most serious cases of COVID-19. They commented that prior research had demonstrated that ACE receptors were discovered in the lungs; perhaps ACE inhibitors could be used as a potential treatment for the COVID-19 infection. More research is needed. I’ll examine this issue the rest of the week.

Insiders, remember there’s a Conference Call tomorrow night. I’ll explain this research and address some of the outlandish claims being made by so-called experts about cures for COVID-19 as well. If you’re not an Insider, go to the Store at drchet.com to check out how you can become one now.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.5619