The Influenza Pandemic Have you noticed a rise in your blood pressure? You Aren't on Your Own.

It was a difficult year last year. Stress, unemployment, and despair plagued Americans as they dealt with a global pandemic, the loss of loved ones, lockdowns that shattered social networks, and stress, unemployment, and sadness.

It's unsurprising that the nation's blood pressure has risen.

On Monday, scientists reported that blood pressure tests of roughly 500,000 persons showed a considerable increase in the prior year when compared to the year before.

The pressure of blood against the artery walls is described by these parameters. Increased pressure can harm the heart, brain, blood vessels, kidneys, and eyes over time. Sexual function may be harmed as well.

Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the study, said, "These are extremely important facts that are not surprising, but are startling."

"Even slight changes in the population's average blood pressure can have a tremendous influence on the number of strokes, heart failure events, and heart attacks that we're likely to see in the following months," he added.

The report, which was published as a research letter in the journal Circulation, serves as a sharp reminder that chronic health disorders must still be maintained even in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed more than 785,000 American lives and interrupted access to health care.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects about half of all adults in the United States. It is a chronic disorder known as a "silent killer" because it can have life-threatening implications despite having few symptoms.

If persons have hypertension and are infected with the coronavirus, they are more likely to develop severe disease. (According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the evidence supporting that link is mixed.)

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic and Quest Diagnostics looked at data from hundreds of thousands of employees and family members who participated in wellness programs that monitored blood pressure and other health indicators such as weight. People with high blood pressure and those with normal blood pressure were included in the study, which drew participants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"We noticed that patients weren't exercising as much during the epidemic, weren't getting regular care, drank more, and slept less," said lead author Dr. Luke Laffin, a preventive cardiologist and co-director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Blood Pressure Disorders. "Did their blood pressure change during the pandemic?" we wondered.

Blood pressure readings varied little from 2019 to the first three months of 2020, but climbed dramatically from April to December 2020 when compared to the same time in 2019.

Blood pressure is expressed in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and is made up of two values. The first number indicates systolic pressure, which is measured when the heart contracts, and the second number indicates diastolic pressure, which is measured while the heart rests between beats. Although there has been decades of debate, normal blood pressure is stated to be 120/80 mm Hg or below.

The average monthly change in systolic blood pressure from April to December 2020, compared to the previous year, was 1.10 mm Hg to 2.50 mm Hg, and 0.14 to 0.53 for diastolic blood pressure, according to the new study.

The increases were observed in both men and women of all ages. Women had larger rises in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

The study's average age was just over 45, and slightly more than half of the participants were women. However, opponents suggested the study's failure to include information on participants' race and ethnicity was a key flaw, because hypertension is far more common among Black Americans than white or Hispanic Americans.

The pandemic has also disproportionately harmed black individuals. Only 6% of the study's data on race and ethnicity was available, according to Dr. Laffin.

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