Affordable Steroids Could Reduce Some COVID-19 Deaths by One-Third, Says World Health Organization

:rockYou’d think a robust immune system would be an awfully good thing to have if you’re battling COVID-19—and much of the time it is. But in the most extreme cases—the ones the World Health Organization (WHO) labels as “severe and critical,” denoting the most extremely ill, typically hospitalized patients, with the highest risk of death—the system meant to protect the body from disease can make things worse, leading to inflammation and other damage to the lungs, which in turn can result in an often fatal case of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In June, a single large study of more than 6,200 patients found that corticosteroids, a class of drugs that reduce inflammation, could prevent at least some cases of coronavirus-related ARDS and the resulting deaths. Today, the WHO confirmed that preliminary report, announcing a new policy, based on a study published in JAMA, calling for the administration of steroids to all patients in the “severe and critical” category, based on findings that the treatment could reduce mortality by slightly more than one third. The new conclusions were reached through a meta-analysis of seven different studies, each exploring the efficacy of corticosteroids in the most serious cases of COVID-19. The combined sample group from all seven studies included 1,703 severely ill patients, 678 of whom were administered steroids and 1,025 who received ordinary care (which did not include steroi...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news