Treating corona patients with the high blood pressure drug Valsartan may save many ICUs and thus deaths. Dutch specialists are starting a large study involving six hundred and fifty patients in about fifteen hospitals.
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In many critically ill corona patients, fluid from the blood vessels enters the lungs, greatly reducing the chances of surviving the virus. Valsartan – a commonly prescribed high blood pressure medicine that has been on the market since 1996 – counteracts these fluid buildup. “Almost all people who are now in intensive care with corona suffer from this problem. This is the major complication of corona, “explains cardiologist Roland van Kimmenade of Radboud UMC in Nijmegen.
If Valsartan works, it would be a huge boost in the fight against corona. In order to find out, three hundred and twenty-five corona patients will be treated with the drug in the coming months, another three hundred and twenty-five patients will receive a placebo. “There are already experimental studies showing that it could work. Such a robust study is the only way to really demonstrate whether it works, ”argues the cardiologist.
Harmful dust
The medicine manages to lower blood pressure by blocking a protein that increases blood pressure in the vessels. Van Kimmenade: ,, We already have thirty to forty years of experience with medicines that ensure that the effect of this harmful substance decreases. In cardiology, this causes high blood pressure. “” With a corona infection, you see that the same substance causes the blood vessels to leak into the lungs, causing fluid to flow into the alveoli, “adds intensivist Peter de Jager of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Brabant.
Ten to fifteen hospitals must participate in the large-scale research, which is supported by the Dutch Heart Foundation and the Netherlands Heart Institute. Because of the acute importance, yesterday already started, but there is still an urgent need for research money and centers that participate. The first participants are located in the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Brabant, one of the first hospitals where corona patients were located and who have been involved in this project from the beginning. The researchers hope to conclude within a few months whether Valsartan works and that fewer corona patients will have to go to IC or die.
Developing countries
The Netherlands has large stocks of this drug, which means that patients can be helped immediately. Valsartan could also help enormously in the fight against corona for developing countries. Because the product already exists, it can be swallowed immediately. Van Kimmenade: “Medicine factories do not have to be started up first.”
The cardiologist warns that it must first be proven that it works, and that patients should only take the medicine on prescription and not experiment with it themselves “by suddenly looting the medicine cabinet from grandpa and grandma”.
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