Is your blood pressure higher than it was before? Learn about how people are experiencing rising blood pressure during this pandemic.
In addition to affecting people’s health, the global pandemic has resulted in lockdowns, loss of social connections, depression, and more. With all of these effects popping up worldwide, it’s no real surprise that the country’s blood pressure is higher now.
According to scientists, nearly a half-million U.S. adults experienced a significant rise in their blood pressure last year. This is not good news, as high blood pressure (or hypertension) can negatively impact your circulation and heart health.
“These are very important data that are not surprising, but are shocking,” says Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association. “Even small changes in average blood pressure in the population can have a huge impact on the number of strokes, heart failure events, and heart attacks that we’re likely to be seeing in the coming months.” Lloyd-Jones was not part of the study.
Hypertension and the Pandemic
Available as a research letter in Circulation, the study reminds us that we still need to manage chronic health conditions. Over half of all U.S. adults have hypertension, a condition that can lead to life-threatening consequences.
Furthermore, individuals with hypertension may also be at greater risk for severe conditions if they have the coronavirus. Researchers examined data from hundreds of thousands of participants with elevated and normal blood pressure at the study’s starting phase.
“We observed that people weren’t exercising as much during the pandemic, weren’t getting regular care, were drinking more and sleeping less,” says Dr. Luke Laffin, lead author, and a preventive cardiologist. “We wanted to know, was their blood pressure changing during the pandemic?”
According to their research, there wasn’t much change in blood pressure readings from 2019 to the first months of 2020. However, there was a significant increase from April 2020 through December 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019.
“[The overall rise in blood pressure] is probably multifactorial,” says Lloyd-Jones. “But I think a critical piece is that we know so many people lost contact with the health care system, and lost control of blood pressure and diabetes.”
The Outlook
While the causes are not clear, various factors may have had an effect like not exercising or rising stress. Because of this, it’s important that you effectively manage your current health conditions and prevent future ones.
One of the things you can do to boost your health during these times is take supplements like L-arginine Plus. It contains ingredients that effectively promote circulation, blood pressure health, cholesterol health, and more. Give your health the support it deserves during these times and take L-arginine Plus.