Medication for high blood pressure could improve COVID-19 survival rates and reduce the severity of infection, according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

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Researchers studied 28,000 patients taking antihypertensives — a class of drugs that are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). They found that the risk of severe Covid-19 illness and death was reduced for patients with high blood pressure who were taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB).

Lead researcher Dr Vassilios , from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "We know that patients with cardiovascular diseases are at particular risk of severe COVID-19 infection. But at the start of the pandemic, there was concern that specific medications for high blood pressure could be linked with worse outcomes for COVID-19 patients. "We wanted to find out what the impact of these medications is for people with COVID-19. "We therefore studied the outcomes for patients taking antihypertensives — looking particularly at what we call 'critical' outcomes such as being admitted to intensive care or being put on a ventilator, and death."