4 ms·

Multiple reports now mention this "high blood pressure" criteria. What this means more exactly? Elevated (above 120/80) also counts as high?

exabrial 7y ago
I also saw a report showing a co-morbidity with tobacco smokers. I'll see if I can find it.
- jdhn 7y ago
  This makes sense seeing that cigarette smoke damages lungs.
beagle3 7y ago
I haven’t been able to find a good description, but I suspect it means there is a known history of high bp (which indeed is usually defined as you wrote) However, there is confounding issue of bp medicine - there was a lancer article about ibuprofen and some kinds of bp medicine causing increased ACE2 expression, which is suspected to increase susceptibility to sarscov2 and worsen covid symptoms. So, it could be that the blood pressure isn’t actually the risk factor, but treatments for it. Will take time to tell
- arpa 7y ago
  The official position of the european cardiology association is that claims that BP medicine can increase suceptibility and worsen symptoms is basically FUD: https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(CHT)/News/position-statement-of-the-esc-council-on-hypertension-on-ace-inhibitors-and-ang https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(C... It is strongly suggested to keep taking your BP medication. A bonus also lies in that link: there is evidence from studies in animals suggesting that these medications might be rather protective against serious lung complications in patients with COVID-19 infection, but to date there is no data in humans. The mechanism of protective action is explained by this comment on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22505537 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22505537 While the theory of ACE inhibitors/blockers making covid-19 worse is basically based upon the presumption that due to inhibition/blocking of angiotensin receptors, the body upregulates by creating more ACE receptors, to which the virus can bind.
- dvfjsdhgfv 7y ago
  This is not only interesting but also extremely important given th fact that a large part of population has bp higher than normal, and some of these people regularly take ACE inhibitors. So far some doctors ask patients to switch to another type of bp-lowering medicine: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanres/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8.pdf https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanres/PIIS2213-2600... whereas others do not: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926838 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926838 Many hospitals in China and Italy have already enough data to make a better judgement on this.

exabrial 7y ago

I also saw a report showing a co-morbidity with tobacco smokers. I'll see if I can find it.

jdhn 7y ago
This makes sense seeing that cigarette smoke damages lungs.

beagle3 7y ago

I haven’t been able to find a good description, but I suspect it means there is a known history of high bp (which indeed is usually defined as you wrote) However, there is confounding issue of bp medicine - there was a lancer article about ibuprofen and some kinds of bp medicine causing increased ACE2 expression, which is suspected to increase susceptibility to sarscov2 and worsen covid symptoms. So, it could be that the blood pressure isn’t actually the risk factor, but treatments for it. Will take time to tell

arpa 7y ago
The official position of the european cardiology association is that claims that BP medicine can increase suceptibility and worsen symptoms is basically FUD: https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(CHT)/News/position-statement-of-the-esc-council-on-hypertension-on-ace-inhibitors-and-ang https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(C... It is strongly suggested to keep taking your BP medication. A bonus also lies in that link: there is evidence from studies in animals suggesting that these medications might be rather protective against serious lung complications in patients with COVID-19 infection, but to date there is no data in humans. The mechanism of protective action is explained by this comment on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22505537 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22505537 While the theory of ACE inhibitors/blockers making covid-19 worse is basically based upon the presumption that due to inhibition/blocking of angiotensin receptors, the body upregulates by creating more ACE receptors, to which the virus can bind.
dvfjsdhgfv 7y ago
This is not only interesting but also extremely important given th fact that a large part of population has bp higher than normal, and some of these people regularly take ACE inhibitors. So far some doctors ask patients to switch to another type of bp-lowering medicine: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanres/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8.pdf https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanres/PIIS2213-2600... whereas others do not: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926838 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/926838 Many hospitals in China and Italy have already enough data to make a better judgement on this.