High Blood Pressure Could Be Caused By A Common Virus, Study Suggests

A new study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, is a cause of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. "This strongly suggests that the CMV infection and the high-cholesterol diet might be working together to cause atherosclerosis," says Crumpacker. In order to find out how and why this was occurring, the investigators went on to conduct a series of cell culture experiments. More on "bidmc.org":[ http://www.bidmc.org/News/InResearch/2009/May/CMVandBloodPressure.aspx]

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