Long COVID Linked to Higher Risk of High Blood Pressure, Swedish Study Finds

A Swedish study involving more than 1.2 million people has found an association between long COVID and an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

The link was observed even among people whose initial coronavirus infection did not require hospital admission, suggesting it was not limited to those who had been hospitalized.

The findings draw attention to a possible cardiovascular concern after the initial illness has passed. Long COVID, rather than recovery from any coronavirus infection, was the condition linked to the higher risk in the study.

The association does not, on its own, establish that long COVID causes high blood pressure. The available summary did not specify the size of the increase in risk or explain what might account for the link.