people taking widely prescribed blood pressure drugs do not face higher rates of infection or severe illness us study finds people taking widely used medicines did not face higher rates of infection or more severe illness new research indicatescreditchris gallagherscience sourcemay 1 2020drugs that are widely prescribed to treat high blood pressure do not make patients more susceptible to coronavirus infection or to severe illness if they do become infected researchers reported on fridaytheir findings are good news for millions of people who take blood pressure drugs that belong to two classes ace inhibitors which include lisinopril captopril and other drugs with generic names ending in pril and arbs which include losartan valsartan and other generic drugs ending in sartan brand names for ace inhibitors include zestril and prinivil for arbs cozaar and atacandsince the epidemic began conflicting theories have circulated about whether those drugs could make the disease better or worse or have any effect at allthe new research was published friday by the new england journal of medicine and similar findings from china were published last week in jama cardiologythe us study also found no risk linked to three other classes of commonly used blood pressure drugs beta blockers calciumchannel blockers and thiazide diureticsboth studies were based on reviewing patients records which does not provide evidence as strong as the results of controlled clinical trials where patients are picked at random to take one treatment or anotherconcerns arose about the drugs early in the epidemic when reports from china indicated that people with hypertension seemed to fare poorly and it seemed logical to investigate if the cause was the condition itself or if blood pressure drugs were somehow making patients more vulnerablein addition studies in animals had shown that arbss and ace inhibitors could increase the levels in some tissue of a protein called ace2 which happens to be the substance that the virus grabs onto as it invades cells in theory higher levels of that protein in the lungs might help the virus attack by acting as extra handholds some scientists have warned but it is not known whether the drugs actually raise ace2 in human lungsconfounding the matter was evidence from animal studies that suggested the opposite effect the drugs might quell inflammation in the lungs and lower the risk of severe disease in coronavirus patients a controlled trial is about to begin to find out if ace inhibitors can help covid19 patients the university of california san diego school of medicine announced on thursdaynot surprisingly patients have been confused and unsettled medical societies have urged calm saying that people should stick with their medications because high blood pressure increases the risks of heart disease strokes and kidney damage but the societies also called for research into the issue and the fears have lingeredi worry because ive received calls from many patients asking if they should stop their medicine or switch to something else and some even stopped their medications without asking me dr harmony reynolds