Dear Dr. Roach: I am 68 and have been taking benazepril to control my high blood pressure for 20 years. I often read that high blood pressure can put a person at risk for different issues, including complications with COVID-19. Since my blood pressure is within normal range with medication, am I still at risk for high blood pressure issues? — M.R.W.
Answer: High blood pressure does put people at higher risk for medical issues, especially stroke and heart attack. Reducing these risks is the major reason to treat with blood pressure medication.
Over many years and hundreds of studies, it is now accepted that the sooner blood pressure is treated, and the closer the treated blood pressure is to normal blood pressure, the better the reduction in risk of complications. Most experts aim to get the blood pressure down to near-normal, if that is possible to do without too many side effects.
It is my belief that a person who is rapidly diagnosed with high blood pressure once it occurs, and who is treated aggressively and successfully, will be at no (or very little) increased risk for high blood pressure and stroke.
While it is true that high blood pressure seems to be a risk factor for bad outcomes in people infected with COVID-19, I can’t say definitively that successful treatment completely removes that excess risk. However, I believe that is likely to be the case, and preliminary data suggest that benazepril, like other ACE inhibitors, may be particularly protective. There are many reasons to effectively treat high blood pressure.
