The researchers tried to find a possible correlation between taking these drugs and the infection, and found none.
Relief for people taking treatment for high blood pressure. According to three studies published Friday May 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine, these drugs do not increase the risk of getting Covid-19 or developing severe forms.
The three studies were carried out respectively in New York, in Lombardy (Italy) and with thousands of hospital patients in 11 countries on three continents. Research has focused on five types of drugs: ACE inhibitors (such as captopril), angiotensin II receptor blockers (or ARBs, such as valsartan), beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and thiazide diuretics.
Fear had been expressed following animal studies suggesting that ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers could increase the risk of Covid-19, by increasing the body’s presence of proteins called ACE2, which serve as gateways to the new human coronavirus.
Researchers studied the medical records of thousands of patients who tested for the new coronavirus. They tried to find a possible correlation between taking these drugs and the infection. “We saw no difference in the likelihood of being tested positive and taking ACE or ARB inhibitors”, Harmony Reynolds, of New York University’s medical school, who conducted one of the studies involving 12,600 people, told AFP. “I am happy to be able to tell my patients that they can continue taking their blood pressure medication”, she says.
One of three studies, led by Mandeep Mehra, medical director of the heart and vascular center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, even linked the use of high blood pressure medication to a lower risk of Covid death -19.
“The same drugs that seem to be beneficial in the lives of patients with cardiovascular disease also seem to show us a positive effect in patients who are struggling with Covid-19”, he said, adding that it was unknown why this was the case. It is not yet possible to know if this is due to the fact that the drugs help the heart, which is thus more resistant to the effects of the virus, or if the explanation is quite different.
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