A new day emerges, and so does a new theory about the possibility to combat COVID-19. However, it seems complicated to accurately point to a specific approach and claim that this would be the ultimate cure for curing humanity of a sickness that has caused pain and uncertainty all around.
Scientists and various Pharmaceutical Firms are continually trying to reach a certain point to understand enormously which drug or element would help everyone collectively to survive coronavirus and escape the vulnerability of no hospital beds and suffering till the last breath.
A new study brought forth the idea that people who consume a specific type of blood pressure medicine are less susceptible to contracting severe COVID-19 and have fewer chances of dying than people who do not take these medications. Hence, these people will be more at risk, and blood pressure meds can help to overcome the disease.
According to previous research and news trends, experts observed some high blood pressure medication such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors & angiotensin receptor blockers consumed by people might worsen the COVID infection.
This study has directed the researchers from the United Kingdom to develop an analysis after considering 19 other reviews that claimed to have a connection between taking these inhibitors and increasing the COVID infection in those individuals. The study pointed to an understanding that there is no relation between these two; somewhat, hypertension medication could lessen the risk of COVID.
Insights into the Study and Some Critical Events
Angiotensin receptive Inhibitor & Angiotension-converting Inhibitor drugs are meant to act up with another receptor found on our cell surface, regulating blood pressure. These receptors are known as ACE2. Experts claimed in their previous study that the COVID virus enters the host cell with these receptors’ help. Hence these inhibitor drugs could cause an increase in infection.
The above speculation made other researchers contemplate and observe more closely that how can both these factors connect. So, the researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, U.K, and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital came together to analyze about 28000 COVID patients. These COVID patients were selected based on their severity and because they were admitted into ICU and been through certain critical events such as being on a ventilator.
After carefully observing these COVID-infected patients, experts came to a decisive conclusion stating that one-third of all the patients in the study had hypertension and one-quarter of it consumed the prescribed receptors such as ACE or ARB.
The lead researcher of the study Dr. Vassilios Vassiliou of UEA’s Norwich Medical School, responded by saying that the increase in the number of COVID patients and their severity is because of an already prevailing disease in them such as hypertension, diabetes, or any other Cardiovascular Disease. Dr. Vassiliou states that,
The really important thing that we showed was that there is no evidence that these medications might increase the severity of COVID-19 or risk of death, rather there was a significantly lower risk of death and critical outcomes, so they might, in fact, have a protective role — particularly in patients with hypertension according to our findings.
The experts finally brought results to their observation, saying that patients on these hypertension receptive are at a 33 percent lower risk than those who are not consuming any of these drugs. So patients who might be taking the drugs mentioned above for any other kind of cardiovascular condition are also at a relatively lower risk of dying of COVID-19.
The Response from Patients and How Far is the Theory Accurate?
Experts say that despite being recommended by doctors to consume the ACE receptors, the patients were reluctant to stop taking them, fearful after reading the reports about the harmful effects and severity of COVID infection in them.
Experts have claimed that any cardiovascular disease would probably heighten the COVID infection in patients. But ACE receptors aren’t the culprit here. They believe that the evidence pieces are still not strong enough to conclude whether giving these medications to non consuming- COVID affected patients would be beneficial or not. Understanding this outcome would require a thorough clinical trial rather than selecting a random group of infected patients.
Hence, this study requires more evidence, making it clear whether a non-COVID-19 person should be given these medications to better understand the outcome. But for now, the patients of high blood pressure must not stop consuming these receptors.
