The greatest risk is when several different types of the drugs, known as antihypertensives, are taken in combination, and, in particular, the drugs that regulate the hormone, renin, which affects blood pressure levels.

People who are taking an ACE inhibitor or an ARB drug for heart problems should stay at home and not meet up with people, say researchers from Louisiana State University.

Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a UK GP, estimates that people taking one of the drugs are four times more likely to die from the virus.

Calcium-channel blockers are antihypertensives—they keep high blood pressure under control—that also raise the risk of diverticulosis, a bowel problem that causes small bulges or pouches in the intestine. Left untreated, it can lead to diverticulitis, when the pouches become inflamed.

Six or more cups a day increase your risk of heart disease by 22 per cent, researchers reckon. This seems to be the tipping point for coffee drinking, after which your blood pressure will rise. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one cause of cardiovascular disease, still the world's major killer.

Diuretics, or 'water pills', make skin cancer seven times more likely, especially in patients who have been taking the drugs for a long time.

The drugs contain a chemical called hydrochlorothiazide, which seems to change the skin, and makes it more sensitive to the sun's UV rays, say researchers at the University of Southern Denmark.

The dark chocolate and olive oil combined are especially good for heart health, while drinking coffee seems to be associated with longevity, and people who drink at least four cups a day are 64 per cent less likely to have a premature death.

It's easier to follow than adopting a healthier diet or exercising, say researchers from the Salk Institute.

Different types of structured exercise—from endurance to resistance activities—were as powerful as drugs for lowering blood pressure, and they became even more effective for people who had the highest levels, which was anything above 140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure, the marker for the start of hypertension.

Exercise targets systolic pressure, the first number which records the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart is beating.

It's an important discovery because antihypertensive prescriptions have increased by 50 per cent in the past decade, and this is likely to escalate further as the threshold for hypertension has recently been lowered to 130 mm Hg systolic.

Dog owners on average have better cholesterol profiles, lower blood pressure, aren't overweight and are more physically active. And pretty much all of that is down to having to walk the dog several times a day.

Doctors are prescribing drugs at doses that were based on old data that has not taken into account lifestyle changes, researchers from Stanford School of Medicine say.

At least 11 million people in the US alone are being incorrectly prescribed their heart medication and are taking the wrong dose based on their risk.

As a result, "many Americans are being recommended aggressive treatments that they do not need according to current guidelines," says lead researcher Steve Yadlowsky.

The drugs, known as generics because they are out of patent control, make up around 90 percent of all drugs being prescribed—and the contaminated products could be shipped to more than 30 countries, researchers estimate.

So do sleeping pills cause high blood pressure (hypertension), or is it all part of an unhealthy lifestyle pattern where poor sleep and high blood pressure go together?

Nobody is sure, but researchers suspect sleeping pills could be playing a significant part because people already taking an antihypertensive are more likely to increase the dose, or take a second drug, if they are also taking a pill for their insomnia.

We can accumulate toxins by ingesting or inhaling chemicals from household cleaners, beauty products, air pollution, pesticides, heavy metals and even additives in our food.

Using food as self-medication is the most socially acceptable way to drug yourself. We all know that pints of ice cream put Band-Aids on worries and broken hearts. But sugar can be a disaster for your brain. It's vital for all of us to reduce the blood-sugar spikes lurking in all the tempting food most Westerners are presented with 24/7.

As your waistline grows with blood sugar-spiking foods, your hippocampus shrinks. This is a part of the brain that helps you remain resilient in the face of stress and helps regulate mood by controlling your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. It's also the part of the brain where the most neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells, occurs.

We now know that sugar and other blood sugar-spiking foods can wreak the same havoc on the hippocampus as trauma or extreme stress. The result: high levels of brain drainers like cortisol, which, in turn, can also lower levels of feel-good hormones like serotonin.

In 2015, the first human study demonstrating an association between diet and hippocampus volume was published. This study looked at people who followed a "prudent" diet versus the blood sugar-spiking "Western" diet.

NR can mimic the calorie restriction usually achieved only by fasting and kick-start the same chemical pathways that can reverse physiological signs of ageing. The supplement also improves blood pressure levels and so helps improve arterial health, so it could be especially useful for people suffering from mild hypertension (high blood pressure), say researchers at the University of Colorado.

Zinc deficiency has already been linked to type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, but it can also cause hypertension, say researchers from the Wright State University in the US.