High Blood Pressure & Coronavirus (Higher-Risk People): Symptoms, Complications, Treatments

High Blood Pressure & Coronavirus (Higher-Risk People): Symptoms, Complications, Treatments: People with high blood pressure are at a higher risk if infected with coronavirus. See how you are affected & how can you protect yourself.

Another possibility is that the higher risk comes not from high blood pressure itself, but from certain drugs used to treat it -- ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). This is just a theory, since there's no research yet on what impact, if any, these medications might have on COVID-19.

The theory is based on the fact that ACE inhibitors and ARBs raise levels of an enzyme called ACE2 in your body. And to infect cells, the COVID-19 virus must attach itself to ACE2.

Until more research comes out, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend that you keep taking your high blood pressure medicine as prescribed. If you don’t, it could raise your risk for a heart attack or stroke, putting you in the hospital just as coronavirus cases are coming in.