Recent research shows that Covid could be reduced by taking antidepressants.
Scientists from the US monitored the health of almost 85,000 people during the initial year of the pandemic.
Researchers compared 3,401 individuals who had been prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibiters (SSRIs), to adults with similar ages.
The results showed that patients who were given fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, at a cost of as low as 4p per pill were 28% less likely than those taking Prozac.
Fluvoxamine-brand Luvox also showed the same effect.
The research was conducted by doctors at the University of California San Francisco.
Researchers discovered that fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) reduced the death rate in Covid patients by 28% when taken as a 4p per pill. Adults who took Luvox (a drug that costs 29p per pill) also saw powerful results. Their risk of death was reduced by 26%
Marina Sirota (lead researcher) stated that while we cannot determine whether drugs caused these effects, statistical analysis has shown significant associations.
“There’s power to be found in the numbers.”
Tomiko Oskotsy, a fellow author said that it was important to have as many treatment options available as possible.
People may not tolerate or take a particular treatment or drug.
“Data from electronic health records allows us quickly to examine existing drugs that might be used for Covid treatment or other conditions.”
SSRIs – prescribed to millions of Brits every year – work by boosting the amount of serotonin in the brain, which has a mood-enhancing effect.
However, the hormone also helps regulate the immune response and protects healthy cells from being attacked. If this happens, it can prove fatal.
Studies that looked at the impact of drugs on Covid fighting have also proved promising.
JAMA Network Open published the results from the most recent study.
Researchers searched Cerner Real World Covid for any patients that had been previously afflicted by Covid or were currently being treated with SSRIs.
Montana is home to one of the biggest collections of anonymised medical records worldwide, with over 500,000 records.
Patients who had Covid and got SSRIs were grouped based on their age, sex and ethnicity — key risk factors for Covid.
These patients were compared with others who had Covid, were similar in age, sex, and ethnicity to the other subjects but didn’t get SSRIs.
Patients who received SSRIs were eight percent less likely to die than patients who didn’t.
The latest article promotes fluvoxamine to treat Covid patients and help them recover.
Last month, a large Brazilian study found that taking the pill reduced the chance of getting hospitalized by the disease by one-third.
Researchers at that time suggested it may also be anti-inflammatory and help to calm the immune systems.
Because it is cheap and provides extra protection, they suggested that it be applied in third-world countries.