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The researchers say this is the first drug that has been shown to help save the lives of COVID-19 patients, not new or expensive. This is a particularly gratifying fact, as it means that you can start treating people around the world right away, it is written. news.sky.com.
Dexamethasone (the active substance) has been used since the 1970s to treat a variety of ailments, such as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. Up to half of COVID-19 patients requiring pulmonary ventilation do not survive, so reducing this risk by up to a third is a great achievement.
In intensive care, this drug is allowed, the tablets are administered to patients with less serious illnesses. Another medication that is suitable for patients with COVID-19 is remdesivir, an antiviral medication used to treat Ebola. It reduces coronavirus symptoms from 15 days to 11, but there is insufficient evidence that it also reduces mortality. Remdesivir is a relatively new drug, with limited quantities and no price announcement.
Dexamethasone is a synthetic corticosteroid that belongs to the group of adrenal cortical hormones. This is a prescription drug, it is written in a brochure.
Dexamethasone is used:
replacement therapy with insufficient secretion of natural corticosteroids (adrenal insufficiency, as well as congenital adrenal hyperplasia);
It can be used to treat many different diseases: for example, cerebral edema, autoimmune, rheumatic diseases, skin diseases, respiratory diseases, serious infectious diseases in combination with antibiotics, endocrine diseases and some types of cancer (due to inflammation, pain, allergies , immunosuppressive and antiemetic effects) and for the treatment of inflammatory eye diseases. In inflammatory rheumatic diseases (especially rheumatoid arthritis), dexamethasone is generally used for symptomatic treatment until the effects of the main drugs appear or when they are not enough.
It is necessary to consult a doctor before taking the product.
Minister: will be available as soon as effectiveness is verified
“The drug has long been used in medicine, it is used to treat many conditions, it is a really cheap, simple and well-known drug,” the minister told BNS on Tuesday.
“If it is really effective and it will be approved as a suitable treatment, we don’t even need to make any special effort, we really have it in Lithuania, it is not a deficient medication,” he said.
The minister assured that doctors will certainly be able to use this medicine for the treatment of coronavirus once its effectiveness has been proven.
“It would be enough if there is efficiency, clarity that helps, so our doctors will really be able to use it,” said A. Veryga.
According to him, to use this drug for the treatment of patients with coronavirus, it is necessary to complement the treatment methodologies, immediately after the drug is available for use.
“It is known that as soon as we get the normal data, the doctors themselves should become familiar.” Why not, it is not a complicated decision, “said the minister.
He added that Lithuanian doctors were consulting and exchanging information with their UK colleagues, but had not yet indicated when a decision on the use of dexamethasone could be expected.
Cheap and affordable
Researchers in the UK have found an inexpensive and easily accessible way to treat patients with COVID-19. They called the widespread use of steroids a “breakthrough” in the fight against the disease.
Dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third in patients connected to pulmonary ventilators and by one fifth in patients requiring supplemental oxygen. news.sky.com.
Efficacy data for the steroid medication was taken from the Recovery clinical trial, which evaluated several possible treatments for COVID-19. It is estimated that this drug would have saved 4-5 thousand. Live if patients had received it sooner.
The drug is used to suppress inflammatory processes and, in other diseases, appears to be effective in preventing the damage the body’s immune system can do to the body against the coronavirus, it is written. BBC.com
Such an intense body reaction to the virus is better known as a cytokine storm, it can be fatal.
The tests, led by a team of scientists from Oxford University, involved about 2,000 people. patients were given dexamethasone. Almost 4 thousand more. patients were not prescribed in the study. In patients who needed lung ventilation, the drug reduced the risk of death by 40 to 28 percent. Patients who needed supplemental oxygen had a 25 to 20 percent reduction in the risk of death from medication, BBC.com
Lead researcher Professor Peter Horby says: “So far, it is the only drug that has reduced mortality and has reduced it significantly. This is a very important turning point.”
Another study leader, Professor Martin Landray, says the results suggest that for every eighth patient who already needs lung ventilation, the drug saves lives.
For patients receiving oxygen therapy, this medicine saves one life for every 20-25 patients.
“It just came to our attention then. Dexamethasone treatment can last up to ten days and costs around £ 5 per patient. So £ 35 can save a life. This medication is available worldwide,” says M. Landray.
The first medication that has been shown to help save the lives of COVID-19 patients is neither new nor expensive. This is a particularly gratifying fact, because it means that you can start treating people around the world right away.
Dexamethasone has been used since the 1970s to treat a variety of ailments, such as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. Up to half of COVID-19 patients requiring pulmonary ventilation do not survive, so reducing this risk by up to a third is a great achievement.
In intensive care, this drug is allowed, the tablets are administered to patients with less serious illnesses. Another medication that is suitable for patients with COVID-19 is remdesivir, an antiviral medication used to treat Ebola. It reduces coronavirus symptoms from 15 days to 11, but there is insufficient evidence that it also reduces mortality. Remdesivir is a relatively new drug, with limited quantities and no price announcement.
Experts will decide how to use the medicine
“Lithuania and our country’s health system will definitely benefit from the experience of colleagues in Great Britain in treating patients infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) with this medicine,” said Lina Bušinskaitė-Šriubėnė, Adviser to the Minister of Health .
– Even more so because this medicine (dexamethasone) is found in our country, because it treats other diseases. For example, it is used to treat joint diseases, cancer diseases, severe allergies, adrenal insufficiency as replacement therapy, and other diseases.
The best way to use this medicine will be decided and the medical experts and clinical pharmacologists will provide recommendations, who will evaluate the possibilities and will provide recommendations for the administration of this medicine to patients in our country.
This medication is prescribed. Its appointment and use are at the discretion of the treating physician and are limited to hospitalized patients.
So far, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of this medication. However, a study in the UK showed that the greatest benefit was in patients who were in a very severe condition and were intubated (with artificial lung ventilation) or who needed additional oxygen therapy. In other words, this drug was more effective in more severe patients. “
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