In a new study from The Australian National University, researchers found heparin, a widely available and affordable drug, could limit lung damage when inhaled by COVID-19 patients.
The researchers examined hospital patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 13 countries who were given doses of inhaled heparin.
They found breathing and oxygen levels improved in 70% of patients after inhaling a course of heparin.
Heparin is unique as it has anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant effects which are considered relevant for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Patients with severe COVID-19 disease develop blood clots in the lungs which can be lethal. Blood thinners, such as Heparin, can prevent such clots from forming.
Because the drug has antiviral properties and calms the immune system, it can be used at different stages of treatment.
Indeed, treated patients included in the studies were not uniform in their COVID-19 disease severity, which suggests inhaled Heparin is safe and effective to use across the spectrum of COVID-19 disease.
The team says inhaled heparin has antiviral properties which work by binding to the spike proteins the coronavirus uses to enter the cells of the body.
Inhaled heparin effectively stops the virus from infecting cells in the lungs and could also stop people from getting the virus from others.
It also works as an anti-inflammatory drug—the medicine has the ability to calm everything down when the body is mounting an exaggerated response to the virus.
This drug is already available in hospitals all over the world and it is a very inexpensive drug. If it is as effective as the early results suggest, it could have a major impact in our fight against COVID.
The team emphasizes that there is no other drug that has these three different effects—anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant.
Heparin is normally administered via injection, however when inhaled the drug shows promise as a treatment for COVID-19.
The authors will continue to collect evidence that inhaled heparin works as a treatment and prevention for COVID-19.
If you care about Covid, please read studies about green tea that may protect your body as a vaccine, and most effective face-mask practices to reduce spread of COVID-19.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about novel vaccine method to prevent COVID-19 infection, and results showing that slow walkers four times more likely to die from COVID-19.
The study is published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. One author of the study is Professor Frank van Haren.
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