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This drug may work against covid-19 1:17
(CNN Spanish) - A medication commonly used to combat heartburn is being administered to patients with coronavirus in New York hospitals.
This is a clinical trial that seeks to determine whether or not famotidine helps fight covid-19.
What is this medicine?
Famotidine is used in the treatment of stomach ulcers, indigestion, heartburn and reflux, explains the Mayo Clinic.
It is the main component of medicines like Pepcid and Fluxid and is part of the group of substances known as H2 blockers. "It works by decreasing the amount of acid in the stomach," explains the Mayo Clinic.
According to the United States National Library of Medicine, it is an oral medication that can be marketed with or without a prescription. The over-the-counter comes in presentations like pill, chewable pill, or capsule, the library explains. It is taken once to four times daily. Prescription famotidine can come as a pill or a suspension and is taken once or twice a day, depending on the same source.
MIRA: New York hospitals study common heartburn medication as treatment for covid-19
Side effects that famotidine may have include headaches, dizziness, constipation, diarrhea, and a bad mood (in babies), the library explains. Other more serious side effects that can occur are hives, skin outbreaks, itching, inflammation of the face, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet and legs, as well as difficulty swallowing or breathing, among others. .
Why is it believed it could work against covid-19?
So far, 187 patients have enrolled in the clinical trial, and Northwell eventually hopes to number around 1,200, Dr. Kevin Tracey, president of the Feinstein Institutes of Medical Research at Northwell Health, which runs 23 hospitals in the city, told CNN. NY.
Tracey and her colleagues came up with the idea of studying famotidine after noting that some patients in China who took the drug fared better than patients who did not.
He added that no studies on Chinese patients have yet been published, but that Dr. Michael Callahan, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital who worked with covid-19 patients in China, noted that some people with lower incomes they survived longer than their wealthier counterparts who also had heartburn.
When Callahan and Chinese doctors looked closely, they found that many of those with the lowest incomes were taking famotidine, while the wealthiest patients tended to take a different and more expensive medication.
What evidence is there?
Until the clinical trial is over, there is only anecdotal evidence. As reported by the magazine Science this Sunday, David Tuveson, director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center in the US, decided to recommend the drug to his sister, who tested positive for coronavirus, after speaking with Dr. Tracey.
The 44-year-old woman had a fever and her lips were blue from lack of oxygen. He took his first oral famotidine megadose on March 28. The next morning, his fever dropped and his oxygen saturation returned to a normal range, "Science reported.
Hydroxychloroquine: no benefit for covid-19 patients 2:39The magazine says that this sick woman's other coworkers also improved by taking over-the-counter versions of the drug.
Now, the patients in the hospital study are taking megadoses intravenously, about nine times more than what someone would normally take for heartburn.
"You shouldn't go to the pharmacy and take a lot of heartburn medication," explains Dr. Tracey.
In the Northwell trial, all patients are also taking hydroxychloroquine.
Half of the patients in the study will receive famotidine in addition to hydroxychloroquine. The other half will receive intravenous saline as a placebo, which has no effect.
Hydroxychloroquine may not be used in the study in the future, as last week, the US Food and Drug Administration. (FDA) warned against its use for coronavirus due to possible side effects.
Tracey said the independent board that monitors the trial will make the decision on whether to continue to include hydroxychloroquine in the study.