The new study, published in PLoS Pathogens, suggests for the first time that when coupled with other risk factors for heart disease, cytomegalovirus (CMV) can lead to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.”The important thing is that we have a fresh way of looking at high blood pressure that the virus may be working together with a high cholesterol diet to make things worse,” Crumpacker told CTV News.

Researchers have found that infection with cytomegalovirus greatly increases the likelihood of developing of high blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease . Doctors have long suspected that a poor lifestyle and heredity caused most cases of high blood pressure. Now, a new study finds that a common virus may be partly to blame .Increased expression of both renin and angiotensin 11 are important factors in hypertension in humans,” explained Crumpacker.