Covid-19: CAUSING Hypertension? [Surprising!]
Three years in, COVID-19 is STILL making headlines.
It’s not necessarily because of the condition itself. More often than not, it’s because of the damage the disease has left in its wake.
This time, research has revealed that the pandemic has resulted in an alarming increase in a major risk factor for heart disease:
High blood pressure.
Researchers looked at data from 137,000 adults with hypertension. They compared their levels from pre-COVID (in 2018) to mid-COVID (in 2021).
During that time, their systolic readings rose almost 2 mmHg.
That may not seem like much at first. But that slight increase can raise the risk of a major cardiovascular event by 5 percent.
You never want to see BP numbers increase—especially in people whose levels are already high.
But honestly, I’m surprised the numbers weren’t higher.
After all, stress alone can cause your blood pressure to increase. (And who WASN’T stressed during the pandemic?)
But this highlights that we ALL need to pay closer attention to this heart disease risk factor.
I don’t buy into all of the mainstream measures for heart health, but blood pressure is definitely one you want to pay attention to.
The most common underlying causes of hypertension are surprisingly simple—poor nutrition, toxicity, lack of physical exercise, stress, and cellular dysfunction.
But the good news is this means that the solutions are often equally simple:
- eat more whole foods (especially seafood)
- get plenty of morning sunlight
- avoid fake light at night
- stay away from electromagnetic fields
The bottom line? Take some steps to get your lifestyle under control, and your blood pressure will follow.
P.S. As the cooler weather causes us to spend more time indoors, COVID-19 cases will likely rise. Two key nutrients have been shown to slash hospitalization rates in patients with COVID-19.
SOURCE:
“Changes in Blood Pressure Outcomes Among Hypertensive Individuals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Time Series Analysis in Three US Healthcare Organizations,” Hypertension. 2022;0, https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.19861
