The Corona epidemic, which affected the whole world and our country and brought life to a halt, has brought about many discussions. The most important of these is that Corona, also known as Covid-19 infection, is more severe in patients using blood pressure medications called ACE inhibitors (ACEI) and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB).
Why did this view emerge? As it is known, Covid-19 causes its most fatal damage through the lungs, and a significant portion of patients die for this reason. Previous studies have shown that the coronavirus group, including Covid-19, enters the lung cells through an enzyme called ACE2. At the beginning of the epidemic, some authors suggested that the ACEI and ARB group drugs I mentioned above increased the activity of this enzyme, and therefore the infection was more severe in patients using these drugs. This opinion hit the medical community like a bombshell, and when it was published on news channels and social media, a great panic broke out among those who use these drugs. Millions of people around the world with hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease use these drugs.
Of course, upon this speculative opinion, the world's leading organizations published statements and stated that this information is wrong and that patients should use their medications.
On May 1, 2020, a famous journal, New England Journal of Medicine' Three studies published in (NEJM) clarified this issue. The researchers who conducted all three studies are scientists working at the world's leading universities on hypertension and the heart. According to the results of these studies, it has been determined that drugs in the ACEI and ARB groups do not pose any risk in Covid-19 infections. In a study, five different groups of blood pressure medications were investigated and it was shown that they did not pose any risk.
As a result, hypertension and heart patients can use their medications with peace of mind. These drugs do not pose a risk of aggravating the Corona infection.
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