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Have you been diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension? You could be more susceptible tot he Omicron variant of the deadly novel coronavirus despite being vaccinated against the infection. A study conducted in Los Angeles between December 2021 and April 2022 has shown that patients with high blood pressure could be more at risk of hospitalisation from the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Health experts have said this stands true even if the patient does not have a history of kidney or heart diseases.
Read on to know more.
During an Omicron surge, between December 2021 and April 2022, in the greater Los Angeles area, 912 adults who had received at least three doses of an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine (either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, authorised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and were treated for Covid-19 underwent a retrospective cohort study.
Age, gender, race, ethnicity, and clinical data from electronic health records were among the demographic details that were looked at. The existence of chronic medical illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, heart attack, heart failure, and past chronic pulmonary obstructive disease or asthma are examples of critical clinical traits and variables that researchers have uncovered.
The study group included participants who had received the whole Covid-19 vaccine series and a booster dose, the study's lead author Joseph E. Ebinger, M.D., M.S., an assistant professor of cardiology and the director of clinical analytics at the Smidt Heart Institute at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and colleagues sought to investigate the features of those individuals who had Covid-19 cases severe enough to necessitate hospital care.
Early in the pandemic, Covid-19 vaccinations assisted in reducing mortality as well as some of the worst side symptoms of the infection. An observational study in Israel found that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine further reduced the risks of severe illness by up to 70%. Nevertheless, some people who had received the full dose and the booster dose still needed to be hospitalised for Covid-19 during the first Omicron variant outbreak.
The Omicron version, which is still the predominant type, was discovered for the first time in the United States in December 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven Omicron subvariants have been found as of July 2022.
The data revealed that other older persons without other underlying medical issues are also at risk, according to Ebinger.
Even if a person does not have any other significant chronic diseases, a breakthrough Omicron infection serious enough to require hospitalisation can affect an adult of any age, particularly if that person has high blood pressure.
Not always who we assume they are are the folks who are most at risk. The discovery that they are not the sickest of the ill was unexpected.
According to the data, roughly 16% of the 912 people who received the three doses of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccination needed to be hospitalised.
-The risk of hospitalisation was found to be increased by advanced age, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, heart attack, heart failure, and the interval between the last immunisation and Covid-19 infection.
- Even when they had no other serious chronic health conditions, people with high blood pressure were 2.6 times more likely to need hospital care for a severe Covid-19 illness.
-Of the 145 patients admitted to the hospital, 125 (86.2%) had high blood pressure.
On how to lower the risks of serious Covid-19 infection, whether, through more specialised vaccine regimens, novel treatments, or a combination strategy, researchers indicated additional research is necessary. The biological mechanism underlying the link between severe Covid-19 and high blood pressure is another area that researchers believe requires additional research.
Although high blood pressure has been around for a long time, the fatality of the it increased in leaps and bounds over time. As lifestyle changed, so did the number of people getting diagnosed with high blood pressure.
Here a few things you can maintain to avoid high blood pressure and now Covid-19 too. According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
-Eat a healthy diet
-Maintain a healthy weight
-Be physically active
-Do not smoke
-Limit how much alcohol you drink
-Get ample sleep