Dengue And High Blood Pressure: How is This Mosquito-Borne Disease Linked With High BP – 5 Ways to Manage it

With dengue cases rising, people living with comorbidities like hypertension have become more prone to contracting the infection. But, dengue can soon turn deadly for people already having high blood pressure.

A cough or incessant sneezing or a persistent fever – all these are signs of viral infection and it is spreading everywhere, meaning everywhere. The season is such that all allergies and seasonal illnesses are spreading like wildfire and dengue is among it. This mosquito-borne disease is spreading across cities like Kolkata, Ludhiana, Delhi, Noid, Dehradun etc. When not treated timely dengue fever can turn severe leading to hospitalisation, extremely low platelet counts, or dengue hemorrhagic  syndrome etc. People with commodities are at high risk of contracting the DENV infection. Those living with hypertension should remain extra careful and raise their safety guard to lower the risk of developing dengue fever.

There is a significant association between hypertension and the development of severe dengue in adult patients. For clinical practice, this finding suggests that dengue patients with underlying hypertension warrant closer clinical monitoring for deterioration.

Severe dengue is also known for causing severe impairment in various organs, most commonly the liver, kidney, and rarely the heart, brain, and skeletal muscles.

HOW DENGUE AFFECTS PEOPLE WITH HIGH BP?

Although the exact mechanism that links hypertension to a higher risk of severe dengue is not well understood, there are a few plausible explanations.

Both hypertension and severe dengue involve the overactivation of what is known as the host immune system. Hypertension is also linked to a pro-inflammatory state with studies demonstrating significant elevation of inflammatory markers.

This pro-inflammatory state in hypertensive patients has been linked to vascular endothelium dysfunction – this is a cardiovascular health problem where heart vessels constrict too much instead of opening up for proper pumping of heart. This further leads to manifestations of severe dengue.
Another possible link between severe dengue and hypertension is through their effects on the endothelial glycocalyx (EG) layer. Various animal and human studies have observed EG layer disruption in comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. EG is a semi-permeable membrane lining the luminal side of the vascular endothelium and is crucial in the hemostatic control of fluid exchange between intravascular and extracellular spaces

DENGUE AND HIGH BP: 5 WAYS TO MANAGE IT

1. DASH Diet: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is basically made for controlling blood pressure. It includes intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low -fat dairy products. Because this diet lowers the intake of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar, it is good for managing hypertension naturally.
2. Limit Salt Intake: Too much salt or sodium level leads to fluid retention and leads to a sharp rise in blood pressure. The increased amount of fluid retention places pressure exerted by blood on the vessels and leads to BP problems. Therefore, it is important to limit salt intake and maintain a healthy sodium balance in the body.
3. Increase Fluid Intake: Staying hydrated is the golden rule to ward off several health issues. Keep the body high on fluids, drink coconut water as it will also help to balance electrolyte count.
4. Wear Full-Length Clothing: While humidity and soaring weather make it difficult to wear full sleeves clothes, it is important to take this precaution to lower the risk of mosquito bites or any other insect bite too in the rainy season.
5. Have a Balanced Meal: Having whole fruits is important. Seasonal fruits especially have added benefits. To increase platelets one should have fruits rich in nutrients, vitamin C, Vitamin A, antioxidants, and fibre. The following fruits may help to also maintain gut health-boosting immunity as well – kiwi, plum, cherries, papaya, apples, pomegranates,broccoli, beetroot etc.

Using mosquito repellants, keeping the surrounding clean and maintaining proper hygiene is also important to lower the risk contracting infection.