Blood pressure levels across the US increased in the pandemic due changes in behaviour and lifestyle habits following lockdown, new research has found.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is linked to an increased risk of stroke.
Researchers analysed data from an employee wellness programme covering the years 2018-2020.
The data included 464,585 participants, 53.5 per cent of whom were women, with an average age of 45.7 years in 2018.
The scientists compared blood pressure levels in 2018, 2019 and until March 2020 when most lockdown orders had taken effect.
The readings were then compared with levels recorded between April–December 2020.
The researchers found no significant change in blood pressure levels between the years before the pandemic.
However, each month during the pandemic, blood pressure for men and women across all age groups increased by an average of 1.1 to 2.5 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) for systolic blood pressure and 0.14 to 0.53 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure.
Dr. Luke Laffin, co-director of the Center for Blood Pressure Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and the study’s lead author, said:
“Dietary indiscretion, lack of exercise, central obesity, excessive alcohol consumption and not taking prescribed blood pressure medications can all drive high blood pressure.
“Other research demonstrates that lifestyle habits like excessive alcohol intake worsened during the pandemic, so it is not surprising that a blood pressure elevation followed.
“We also know that patients hesitated to see their doctor, particularly in the early part of the pandemic, and that may have contributed to increased blood pressures.”
The findings have global implications, said an expert not involved in the research.
Prof. Matthew Bailey, lead of hypertension and renal research at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said:
“This paper has examined almost half a million people and clearly shows that the societal changes [and] restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic have increased blood pressure.
“The effect is particularly large in women, and there is also an unanticipated increase in young people.
“A rise in blood pressure of this size increases the risk of debilitating heart attack or stroke.
“For individuals and their families, cardiovascular disease can be devastating. [F]or governments, these conditions are costly to treat and manage. Health budgets are already overstretched.
“This study is based in the U.S. but is relevant globally. It provides an early warning signal that poor cardiovascular health might be a big problem a few years down the line.”
Prof. Bailey added that low-level stress and poor-quality sleep may be key factors in the rise in blood pressure.
