Ace inhibitors and coronovirus

[thinkingaloud]

I am currently taking 2.5mg Ramipril as part of treatment for AF. Todays Times points to a Lancet article suggesting a link between ace inhibitors and coronovirus infection. I feel a bit anxious an wonder if I should come off them? thelancet.com/pdfs/journals...

[Finvola]

There is obviously an awful lot of research going on into this dreadful virus and the link to ACE inhibitors is only suspected at the moment, according to the article. I wouldn’t do anything without doctor’s advice about this. I notice calcium channel blockers do not appear to be suspect and may be an alternative.

[Hilly22 in reply to Finvola]

You talk a lot of sense Finvola, and thank you for that.

We need to be calm, educate ourselves as to our risks, and take action accordingly.

[sleeksheep in reply to Finvola]

Kaz had a comment from her EP that ARB's may confirm some protection but it is still too early to say. Where as the Lancet article has both ACE inhibitors and ARB's as suspect.

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

[CDreamer]

I think it’s always a balancing act however at present there too many unknown, unknowns & a correlation does not equal cause.

What is known is that anxiety IS a factor for lowering immune response, increasing inflammation & increasing symptoms of many conditions, including arrythmias so stay with the knowns & do as much as you can to reduce your anxiety- which may mean going for a green walk & stopping reading such articles.

Best wishes CD

[thinkingaloud in reply to CDreamer]

Very true what you say. I have been for a long walk this afternoon. I have just spoken to my GP who thanked me for bringing the article to their attention and she is consulting with colleagues. I do get anxious but I also want to be informed. Somewhere there is a balance to be found.

[thinkingaloud in reply to CDreamer]

Just had a another phone call from the GP practice- this time from their pharmacist. He is ok with changing my prescription from Ramipril to a calcium channel blocker but said it would be less protective for hypertension. I will stick with Ramipril but will change if their are more articles confirming their hypothesis.

[tunybgur in reply to CDreamer]

....but there are quite a few research papers from China pointing to the same link. A statistical probability/possibility should be taken seriously, absolute proof is often not possible.

[Ecki in reply to tunybgur]

Hi, do you have links for the other research papers you mention?, thanks

[tunybgur in reply to Ecki]

Here's a few links, if you check the references to these papers you will see a lot of the research is being carried out in China for obvious reasons....but I'm sure more is being done worldwide.

bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m81...

thelancet.com/pdfs/journals...

link.springer.com/article/1...

[thinkingaloud in reply to tunybgur]

Thanks for your reply. Having slept on it have e-mailed Gp to request change of medication from ACE inhibitor to calcium channel blocker

[tunybgur in reply to thinkingaloud]

You can also take a diuretic which is normally the first med prescribed for hypertension.

I don't know how high your BP was but with 2,5mg Rami it probably wasn't too high.

[vovvarna22 in reply to CDreamer]

Yes .... that damned anxiety! Off to the park .... I know, I keep saying that!!

[Moirabsrbara44]

I’d check with doctor. I’ve just heard similar about prednisone which I’m currently on for asthma flare

[tunybgur]

I also read this and several other articles on the same subject.

I take 7.5mg of Ramipril and have contacted my doctor via the prescription request page on his website to see if I can be moved to a different antihypertensive drug.

Unfortunately it has become very difficult to contact my GP to discuss anything without requesting an appointment, this means I must try and get past his reception, not a pleasant experience and quite difficult, I fully understand why many people end up in A&E....

It is worrying as I am in the high risk group and now find out my meds may be significantly increasing my risk of a severe infection.

Watch this space, knowledge is power.

Good luck.

[Ppiman]

That was a fascinating study, thank you. I’ve also been reading that the cause of mortality from corona virus is lung inflammation rather than infection, something caused by a particular kind of immune system response called a “cytokine storm”, common, I gather, in older people. Having diabetes or hypertension seems to make this problem for some reason (I’m not sure of the age relationship here).

It’s all very concerning.

Steve

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

Or maybe taking the drugs for these conditions?

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

Some drugs seem to increase the chance of the inflammation, even ibuprofen, I see. It's all very worrying.

[Auriculaire]

I saw a headline linking to use of anti inflammatories in French online newspaper but so far found no link to a study . I think the bottom line is that despite widespread use many prescription drugs just bugger up our bodies. They might do what it says on the tin for the particular problem they are prescribed for but they mess up the delicate homeostasis of the whole organism. This is a direct consequence of the system of allopathic medicine which basically treats our bodies as a mechanical jumble of unconnected parts, mainly ignores the consequences of nutrition and other environmental factors on health and is now dominated by a pharmaceutical industry whose main if not sole motivator is profit.

The stats from Italy are now mirroring those from China re deaths. 70% male. In the age categories that are mainly dying a very large proportion of those men would have smoked when younger even if in late middle age their doctors had persuaded them to give up. Smoking in men was more widespread in France and Italy and certainly here the tide against it turned much later than in UK. Could there be a link here? If so it should be explored as it might be a potent weapon in the fight against tobacco use.

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

Those are interesting points regarding gender and smoking. It's going to be a new and unpleasant time for us all, I fear.

[suebob59]

I take 5mg of lisinopril, before this I was on a calcium channel blocker but it was changed to ace inhibitor due to the rapid price increases of the calcium channel blocker.

[doodle68]

Hi thinking aloud...

see below

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...