Long COVID Linked to 14 Percent Higher Risk of Developing Hypertension: Study
Sweden: Non-hospitalised adults with physician-diagnosed long COVID had a 14% higher risk of developing new-onset hypertension than those without long COVID. The findings highlight the importance of cardiovascular follow-up and regular blood pressure monitoring in patients with persistent post-COVID symptoms.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was led by Pia Lindberg, RN, PhD, of the Division of Immunology and Respiratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues. It analysed health-record data from more than 1.2 million Swedish adults to examine whether long COVID is linked to a later diagnosis of high blood pressure.
Researchers used the MIRACLE-S registry, a population-based database covering health care in Stockholm, to follow adults aged 18 to 65 years from October 2020 to January 2025. Participants had no previous hypertension and had not been hospitalised for acute COVID-19. Long COVID was identified through a physician-assigned diagnosis code, while new-onset hypertension was identified using the corresponding diagnostic code for high blood pressure.
The researchers adjusted their analysis for age, socioeconomic status, existing health conditions, mental health diagnoses, and prior use of health care services.
The study included 1,221,570 adults; 8,365 people (0.7%) received a physician-diagnosed long COVID diagnosis. Overall, 18% of participants developed new-onset hypertension during follow-up.
- Adults with long COVID had a 14% higher risk of developing hypertension than those without the condition, after accounting for other risk factors (hazard ratio 1.14).
- The increased risk was observed in both sexes: women with long COVID had a 13% higher risk, while men with long COVID had a 15% higher risk.
- Among people with long COVID, 16% of women and 24% of men developed hypertension during follow-up; their cumulative incidence was consistently higher than among people without long COVID.
- The association remained stable after adjustment for socioeconomic factors, cardiometabolic conditions, mental health disorders, and pre-pandemic health care use.
- The researchers suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection may contribute to lasting vascular or autonomic changes that affect blood-pressure regulation.
The authors wrote that the results do not prove that long COVID directly causes hypertension, but they strengthen the case for closer cardiovascular surveillance in people with persistent post-COVID symptoms. Because high blood pressure often causes no symptoms, routine measurement can help identify risk early.
They propose that primary care clinicians consider structured blood-pressure checks and cardiovascular risk assessment for patients with long COVID, particularly where routine screening might otherwise be less frequent.
The study team notes that future research should combine registry data with biomarkers, vascular imaging, autonomic testing, and longitudinal blood-pressure profiling. Such work could help clarify the biological mechanisms linking long COVID to hypertension and improve identification of people at greatest cardiovascular risk.
The findings add to growing evidence that the effects of COVID-19 may extend beyond the acute illness, with potential consequences for long-term heart and blood-vessel health.
Reference: https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.126.049721
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