Common Heartburn Remedy May Helped 10 Covid-19 Patients at Home

10 people who got sick at home COVID-19 According to a study published on Thursday, common over-the-counter treatments for heartburn may have provided relief.

The co-authors of the study emphasized that it was a small group of patients. Nonetheless, he was “inspired” by the results, he said, and plans to conduct a larger outpatient study of famotidine, the over-the-counter component of pepsid.

“We want to know what’s the best way to deal with these patients, keep them away from the hospital, and make them feel better faster,” shared a paper with a doctor at Northwell Health in New York. The author, Dr. Joseph Conigliaro, said.

In a report published in the medical journal Gut on Thursday, all but one subject took the drug within 10 days of the first symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath. The 10th patient took the drug for 26 days after the onset of symptoms. They were 23 to 71 years old.

“All patients noticed a rapid improvement in symptoms within 24-48 hours of starting famotidine,” the report says. “These findings suggest that famotidine may influence the course of COVID-19.”

Researchers report that everyone felt that they had returned to near normal two weeks after taking the drug.

Called the Case Series, this report was written by doctors at Northwell and Cold Spring Harbor Labs in New York and other universities.

I am interested in the study of famotidine because famotidine is considered to be cheap and very safe. One study suggests that this drug helps hospitalized Covid patients

Outpatient reports showed that 7 out of 10 patients had no side effects. The other three experienced relatively minor side effects, almost all of which are known to be associated with famotidine, such as dizziness and gastrointestinal problems.

One patient-the only patient who explained the exacerbation of symptoms while taking the drug-explained that he was tired after taking famotidine.

When three patients were attacked by Covid in April and April, one of the study co-authors, who knew the drug was being studied in hospitalized patients, suggested taking famotidine.

“One of the authors had such a safe profile, so after learning more about the emerging famotidine test, he decided to treat his family and a few friends,” Conigliaro said. .. “He suggested they take famotidine and start tracking their symptoms in a daunting way.”

The report notes that patients were enrolled consecutively in the study. That means the authors did not select study subjects and did not reject patients who deteriorated after taking the drug.

Three out of ten patients took their temperatures and found that they had a fever 5 to 7 days after they started taking famotidine. One of those patients also monitored her blood oxygen levels at home and found that her levels improved while she was taking the drug.

Famotidine may have actually done nothing, and the patient was probably undergoing a self-healing process with something called a “placebo effect.” In other words, because I was taking tablets, especially recommended by a doctor.

That’s why researchers at Northwell are planning double-blind clinical trials. Patients ill with Covid at home are randomly assigned to take either famotidine or placebo. Neither the patient nor the doctor know who is taking it.

In a previous study by doctors at Northwell and Columbia University, Hospitalized Covid patients taking famotidine It was more than twice as likely to survive the infection.

Those researchers are currently conducting Clinical studies on famotidine Covid patient in hospital.

Connigliaro was hoping to have preliminary results by mid-May, but the trial was delayed because of the decreasing number of Covid patients in New York City.

There were no trials as to whether famotidine works to prevent Covid infection, and Conigliaro advises that you should not take any medication to prevent or treat Covid without first consulting a doctor. did.

Interest in famotidine began when Harvard infectious disease doctor Dr. Michael Callahan worked in China and found that some Covid patients outperformed others. These patients were found to have heartburn and low income. That is, he was taking famotidine, which was cheaper than other reflux medications.

At the same time, a group of scientists at Alchemura Laboratories in Florida used computer models to create a list of existing drugs that could fight the coronavirus. Famotidine appeared near the top of the list.

It is unclear why famotidine works against Covid-19. It may have anti-viral effects and stop the virus replication. Or it may be to reduce inflammation by blocking the H2 receptors that are present in both the stomach and lungs.