What, exactly, do patients need to know about the relationship between hypertension and COVID-19?

Patients with cardiovascular disease should continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) as prescribed if they are diagnosed with the new coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a joint statement from three medical societies. 

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has published a statement warning patients with certain medical conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, to be “extra vigilant” as the new coronavirus continues to spread.

Hypertensive patients may be at a greater risk of dying from COVID-19, the viral disease stemming from the world’s largest coronavirus outbreak to date, according to Bloomberg News.

Americans are dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused or exacerbated by hypertension at alarmingly higher rates than in years past.

When evaluating a pediatric patient for hypertension, healthcare providers often monitor the child’s blood pressure for a 24-hour period. However, according to new findings published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, such “blood pressure load” assessments may not provide significant value.  

An analysis of the 2015 SPRINT trial has found that, if participants continued taking their antihypertensive medications for the remainder of their lives, intensive blood pressure control could add between six months and three years to their lifespan.

Some 20% of children have high blood pressure, WBAL-TV reported Feb. 17.