Common virus may cause high blood pressure
Excessive sodium, stress, lack of exercise—now add cytomegalovirus to the list of possible causes of high blood pressure. CMV, a common type of herpes virus (an estimated 50-85% of adults are infected by age 40, according to one source) has also been linked to hardening of the arteries and may even be implicated either directly or via its effects on the immune system in autism. In fact, blood pressure may be the least of your worries if this nasty virus has taken up residence in your system.
So, a movement is afoot to come up with a vaccine against the virus. “CMV infects humans commonly all over the world,” co-senior author Clyde Crumpacker, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School explained in a statement. “This new discovery may eventually provide doctors with a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription.”
CMV affects all age groups and is the source of congenital infection, mononucleosis, and severe infection in transplant patients. Although most adults will have contracted the virus by the age of 40, many will never exhibit symptoms. Once it enters the body, CMV usually remains latent until the immune system is compromised.
The study is being published in the May 15, 2009 issue of PLoS Pathogens.
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