Steroid drugs to help reduce COVID-19 mortality, study claims

September 7, 2020  15:18

Today's widely used and affordable anti-inflammatory steroids can save the lives of COVID-19 critically ill patients.

According to the BBC, that's 8 lives saved for every 100 people, JAMA reported referring to a study that proved the effectiveness of dexamethasone and hydrocortisone.

Observation of 1,703 critically ill patients showed that 40% died with standard treatment and 32% died with steroids.

Steroids are known to reduce inflammation and can calm the immune system. Today they are actively used for arthritis and asthma, as well as for some severe infections.

Steroids are not thought to help in the early stages of coronavirus infection when symptoms include cough, fever, sudden loss of taste, or smell. But as the disease progresses, the immune system can spiral out of control, damaging the lungs and other organs. It is at this stage that steroids should be administered.

In this study, scientists used small doses. However, at this time, there is no evidence that larger doses would be more effective.

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