Can An Inexpensive Anti Depressant Treat Covid-19? Anti-Inflammatory Properties

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- 'Can an inexpensive anti-depressant treat COVID-19? Researchers are cautiously optimistic.' Salon Mag., Aug. 22, 2021. The SSRI drug's anti-inflammatory properties could slow the progression of severe COVID-19, experts say. - Ed.

Could an anti-depressant called fluvoxamine prevent severe disease of COVID-19 if administered early enough? Scientists are curious enough to keep testing as early results from a clinical trial hold some hope. At an Aug. 6 symposium, officials of the Together Trial, which is an international clinical trial studying repurposing drugs to treat COVID-19 in Brazil, discussed early results showing that fluvoxamine could be a possible option in treating COVID-19 from progressing if administered early in a patient.

Fluvoxamine is an inexpensive anti-depressant often sold under the brand name Luvox, and is of a common class of anti-depressants know as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Two previous smaller studies showed promising results for fluvoxamine as a COVID-19 treatment as well. In the study of 2,100 people, researchers observed a 30 % reduction in hospitalizations among those who took fluvoxamine. The Together Trial also studied the much-debated COVID-19 drug candidates hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, which showed no detectable benefit, according to the early results. Notably, the results have yet to be published or peer-reviewed.

Scientists were excited by the numbers that they observed regarding reduced hospitalization. That's a one-third reduction, and that's a potentially big impact for medicine that costs $10," said David Boulware, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota's Medical School. "We basically have three studies that have all sort of shown there's a benefit to this medicine [fluvoxamine], which is exciting because it's available worldwide for the most part."

One of the earlier studies Boulware mentioned was a preliminary study of 152 COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate disease who were recovering from COVID-19 in their homes. Researchers at Washington Univ. School of Medicine in St. Louis found that the fluvoxamine appeared to prevent some of the most serious complications- like going to the hospital for supplemental oxygen. None of the 80 patients who received fluvoxamine were hospitalized, while four out of the 72 who received the placebo were hospitalized. "The patients who took fluvoxamine did not develop serious breathing difficulties or require hospitalization for problems with lung function," said the paper's 1st author, Eric J. Lenze, MD...

More,
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/22/fluvoxamine-covid-study/

[Rebl2]

1. Well if

it works on Covid, the inexpensive drug will become more expensive and hard to find. There is a biologic drug use for rheumatoid arthritis that shows promise in treating Covid and now rheumatologists are having trouble getting it to treat their RA patients according to my rheumatologist.

[appalachiablue]

2. That's no good, swapping one problem

for another. Crank up the manufacturing.

[Rebl2]

3. I agree!