Covid impact on blood pressure could be ‘major concern’ for the future
COVID has exposed “unexpected vulnerabilities” for heart health at all stages of the disease, according to Scots experts.
A new study is under way looking at the long-term impact of the virus on blood pressure.
Research has shown that people with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or chronic lung conditions, have a higher risk of developing severe illness.
The virus that causes Covid enters the body’s cells through a receptor called ACE2 which is found in the lungs, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, liver, and bowel and helps maintain blood pressure.
The virus can also cause damage to the walls of the blood vessels which makes the risk of blood clots higher and this has been seen more often in people with high blood pressure.
A study led by the University of Glasgow and funded by Heart Research UK will examine the health records of people from the west of Scotland who attended hospital or had a positive test for Covid-19 between April 2020 and April this year.
They will undergo blood pressure monitoring, and heart and blood vessel health checks. These tests will be repeated after 12 and 18 months to see if there have been any changes and compared with patients with normal blood pressure.
Sandosh Padmanabhan,
Professor of Cardiovascular Genomics and Therapeutics, who is leading the study, said: “The current Covid-19 pandemic has exposed unexpected cardiovascular vulnerabilities at all stages of the disease.
“The burden of hypertension as a consequence is unknown, but given the scale of the infection especially among the young this will be a major concern for the future.”
Other research, published yesterday, has shown that increased risk of blood clots in those recovering from Covid may be due to a “lingering and overactive immune response”.
Researchers collected and analysed blood samples from 30 patients a month after they were discharged from hospital and all had signs of blood vessel damage.
Patients continued to produce high levels of cytokines – proteins produced by immune cells that activate the immune response against pathogens – even in the absence of the virus. Researchers from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore hypothesise that these persistently activated immune responses may attack the blood vessels of recovered Covid patients, causing even more damage and increasing the risk of blood clot formation further.
Last week, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the UK Government’s vaccine advisory body, issued updated guidance advising that under-30s should be offered an alternative to the Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine, if available.