Cargando…

The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis

RATIONALE: Several studies have demonstrated links between infectious diseases and cardiovascular conditions. Malaria and hypertension are widespread in many low- and middle-income countries, but the possible link between them has not been considered. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we outline the basis...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Etyang, Anthony O., Smeeth, Liam, Cruickshank, J. Kennedy, Scott, J. Anthony G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4920207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27151400
http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.308763
_version_ 1782439365304123392
author Etyang, Anthony O.
Smeeth, Liam
Cruickshank, J. Kennedy
Scott, J. Anthony G.
author_facet Etyang, Anthony O.
Smeeth, Liam
Cruickshank, J. Kennedy
Scott, J. Anthony G.
author_sort Etyang, Anthony O.
collection PubMed
description RATIONALE: Several studies have demonstrated links between infectious diseases and cardiovascular conditions. Malaria and hypertension are widespread in many low- and middle-income countries, but the possible link between them has not been considered. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we outline the basis for a possible link between malaria and hypertension and discuss how the hypothesis could be confirmed or refuted. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed published literature on factors associated with hypertension and checked whether any of these were also associated with malaria. We then considered various study designs that could be used to test the hypothesis. Malaria causes low birth weight, malnutrition, and inflammation, all of which are associated with hypertension in high-income countries. The hypothetical link between malaria and hypertension can be tested through the use of ecological, cohort, or Mendelian randomization studies, each of which poses specific challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Confirmation of the existence of a causative link with malaria would be a paradigm shift in efforts to prevent and control hypertension and would stimulate wider research on the links between infectious and noncommunicable disease.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4920207
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2016
publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-49202072016-07-12 The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis Etyang, Anthony O. Smeeth, Liam Cruickshank, J. Kennedy Scott, J. Anthony G. Circ Res New Hypotheses in Clinical Medicine RATIONALE: Several studies have demonstrated links between infectious diseases and cardiovascular conditions. Malaria and hypertension are widespread in many low- and middle-income countries, but the possible link between them has not been considered. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we outline the basis for a possible link between malaria and hypertension and discuss how the hypothesis could be confirmed or refuted. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed published literature on factors associated with hypertension and checked whether any of these were also associated with malaria. We then considered various study designs that could be used to test the hypothesis. Malaria causes low birth weight, malnutrition, and inflammation, all of which are associated with hypertension in high-income countries. The hypothetical link between malaria and hypertension can be tested through the use of ecological, cohort, or Mendelian randomization studies, each of which poses specific challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Confirmation of the existence of a causative link with malaria would be a paradigm shift in efforts to prevent and control hypertension and would stimulate wider research on the links between infectious and noncommunicable disease. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2016-06-24 2016-06-23 /pmc/articles/PMC4920207/ /pubmed/27151400 http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.308763 Text en © 2016 The Authors. Circulation Research is published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wolters Kluwer. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle New Hypotheses in Clinical Medicine
Etyang, Anthony O.
Smeeth, Liam
Cruickshank, J. Kennedy
Scott, J. Anthony G.
The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title_full The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title_fullStr The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title_full_unstemmed The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title_short The Malaria-High Blood Pressure Hypothesis
title_sort malaria-high blood pressure hypothesis
topic New Hypotheses in Clinical Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4920207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27151400
http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.308763
work_keys_str_mv AT etyanganthonyo themalariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT smeethliam themalariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT cruickshankjkennedy themalariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT scottjanthonyg themalariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT etyanganthonyo malariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT smeethliam malariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT cruickshankjkennedy malariahighbloodpressurehypothesis
AT scottjanthonyg malariahighbloodpressurehypothesis