Scientists found that heparin, an anticoagulant or blood-thinning drug, can prevent lung damage in COVID-19 patients. They said that the drug has a combination of anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulant effects that may have caused the increased oxygen levels in the study participants in the UK and Australia.
According to Medline Plus, heparin is commonly injected in patients suffering from blood clots. But researchers suggest that it is safer and more effective for COVID-19 patients if inhaled. The drug works by multiplying in the lungs while stopping the immune system from overreacting. Doctors said heparin could be an alternative option in poorer countries with low vaccination rates and more at risk of being hospitalized.
A television screen shows a bottle of the drug heparin next to a similarly-labeled bottle of a different drug at a hearing on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2008, in Washington, DC.
Cheap and Widely Available COVID-19 Treatment
Researchers sprayed heparin to the nose of COVID-19 patients to see whether the blood thinner drug could offer protection against the deadly virus. Lead researcher Professor Don Campbell told BBC News that the nasal spray could be applied when the person would be in public or crowded places.
The drug immediately goes to the bloodstream when inhaled instead of just staying in the nose so that it latches to the virus and prevents it from attaching to human cells. Participants were asked to spray two puffs, three times a day to see whether it prevents the household transmission from an infected person to a healthy one.
Professor Michelle McIntosh, a co-author of the study, said that one of the advantages of using this drug is its availability on the market as an approved coagulant drug and only costs $22.43 (£16.50). More so, it does not require refrigeration at ultra-low temperatures like vaccines, so it can easily be distributed.
So far, researchers have not recorded any side effects, like excessive bleeding to death, among the participants. Researchers are confident that the drug could work against COVID-19.
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Heparin Prevents Lung Damage
Researchers said that the cheap and widely available blood-thinning drug improves the breathing of COVID-19 patients, increases oxygen levels by 70%, and reduces symptoms gradually. Study co-author Professor Fran van Haren said that it is as effective as their early results suggest and could have a major impact on the fight against COVID-19.
ABC News reported that the drug is currently being rolled out to patients in hospitals of 13 different countries worldwide as part of a controlled trial. One of these countries is Australia, reporting a record-breaking number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Professor Van Haren said that the findings are promising and could prevent patients from ending up in the intensive care unit (ICU).
On the other hand, he noted that the drug is not a magic bullet that can completely cure patients. Instead, it only prevents them from getting hospitalized or saves them from dying. Heparin is used as a blood-thinner to treat heart, lung, and blood diseases. For now, scientists are still in the process of finding a COVID-19 treatment that is effective in treating patients.
Nonetheless, heparin offers breakthrough treatment for low and middle-income countries because of its availability and low price. Some treatments developed for COVID-19 are costly and only accessible to rich countries, such as the US, Europe, and other first-world countries can afford them.
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