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Users of Blood Pressure Drugs Have a Lower Risk of Dying from Influenza and Pneumonia

by Iswarya on Oct 3 2020 2:07 PM

Users of Blood Pressure Drugs Have a Lower Risk of Dying from Influenza and Pneumonia
Users of widely used medications against elevated blood pressure or heart problems may have a greater chance of surviving severe pneumonia or influenza infections, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.//
The researchers have compared death rates among 500,000 Danish patients admitted to Denmark's hospitals with influenza and pneumonia from 2005 to 2018.

"A little over 100,000 of the admitted patients were taking ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers, and the study revealed that fewer of them were put on a ventilator and that they had lower death rates compared to the hospitalised patients who took another type of drugs against elevated blood pressure, calcium blockers," reports Christian Fynbo Christiansen.

The study arrives mid in a discussion of treatment, which peaked while the novel coronavirus pandemic was at its height.

The hypothesis is when the ACE inhibitor decreases the ACE level, the body compensates for this by activating a much larger number of ACE receptors on the surface of the cells, which the SARS-CoV-2 virus then uses as some access key. The greater the number of access keys accessible on the cells' surface, the more easily the virus gains access to the cells.

"We haven't checked whether what applies to patients with pneumonia or influenza can be transferred straight to patients with coronavirus, but there is some evidence to suggest that ACE inhibitors have a protective impact against lung damage which we don't see in patients who take other types of drug to lower blood pressure," states Christian Fynbo Christiansen.

Source-Medindia


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