Anticoagulant medication is ineffective as a post-Covid treatment

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The 402 patients who took the drug were not helped to recover from moderate or severe Covid-19, while a small number of patients experienced serious side effects (bleeding).

Anticoagulant-antithrombotic drug, apixaban (Apixaban – trade name Eliquis), widely given to Covid-19 patients after they are discharged from the hospital, is ultimately ineffective, as it hardly reduces the likelihood of re-hospitalization, nor improves the likelihood their survival.

This is the conclusion of a British clinical trial, which is expected to lead to a more general review of the relevant pharmaceutical protocol around the world, according to the Financial Times.

The study HEAL-Covid by its researchers University of Cambridge and his Addenbrooks Hospitalheaded by the professor of intensive care Charlotte Summers and the Dr. Mark Toschnerinvolved 402 patients who took the drug and showed that the latter were not helped to recover from moderate or severe Covid-19, while a small number of patients experienced serious side effects (bleeding).

29.1% of those who had taken the Apixaban eventually required readmission to the hospital or died after discharge, compared to 30.8% of those who had not received the drug and received other treatment.

The study showed no benefit from the particular drug in terms of the number of days patients remained alive after discharge, as in both the drug and non-drug groups, the median survival – after the initial two months discharge from the hospital – it was 59 days.

The British study is the first in the world to look at treatments for patients who have initially recovered from Covid-19, but around a third of them die or require further hospitalization within the next year.

As Dr Summers said, “after surviving the ordeal of being hospitalized with Covid-19, too many patients find themselves back in hospital, often developing long-term complications as a consequence of the coronavirus”.

Dr. Toschner said: “Until now, it has been assumed that Apixaban helps patients recover from severe Covid-19 and that anticoagulation in their blood, which prevents clots from forming, is beneficial. But our new findings will lead to stopping the unnecessary prescribing of this drug to patients with Covid-19, thus changing medical practice.”

The HEAL-COVID study will continue with the trial of another drug, a statin, atorvastatin, which is widely prescribed to lower cholesterol but is thought to also help as a Covid treatment.

RES-EMP

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