Posted on 04/12/2020 5:21:33 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As the world continues to contend with the pandemic of coronavirus, medical experts are quickly working to find a cure or treatment. Two potential treatments, in particular, have shown promise in recent tests, but at this stage, it is too early to be sure about them as safe treatments and studies appear to indicate some troubling side effects.
Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug infamously touted by President Trump as a cure for the virus, has been found to have dangerous side effects. French researchers have found that the drug can have a negative impact on the heart, as it has observed 43 heart-related incidents in patients that take it.
This initial assessment shows that the risks, in particular cardiovascular, associated with these treatments are very present and potentially increased in COVID-19 patients. Almost all of the declarations come from health establishments, the French drug safety agency said in a statement. These drugs should only be used in hospitals, under close medical supervision.
While the potential benefits of the drug have definitively not been ruled out, experts urge patients not to take it without professional recommendation and guidance.
Some have described the worst side effects of the drug for patients with heart conditions as drug-induced cardiac arrests. Other observed side effects include severe headaches, cramps, vision loss, diarrhea, dizziness, muscle weakness, hair loss and more.
Elsewhere, California-based biotech company Gilead Sciences has released a new report on the potential benefits of the Remdesivir for coronavirus patients. In a study of 53 patients with severe cases given the drug as a last resort, 36 showed improvements. It was also observed of the 30 patients on ventilators before taking Remdesivir, 17 were able to be taken off the devices.
Among the remaining patients, eight worsened, seven died, and two showed no difference. While the study was limited, researchers at Gilead are hopeful, as these results show a decreased rate of death for patients with severe cases of COVID-19, down from at least 17% in China to 13%. Some of the observed side effects included diarrhea, hypotension, rash, and renal issues, but nothing as yet severe as the cardiac troubles found with hydroxychloroquine.
Most likely induced by the antibiotic combination. Other doctors substitute another antibiotic for the z-pac for their patients with heart conditions. Article authors probably didn’t investigate or their rent-a-doc failed to inform them.
Decades ago SNL had a commercial where the side effects of the drug were way worse than the disease. I can’t find it on the web but here’s this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2FkgBIL-kI
I think it’s more direct than that, after reading this article from 5 years ago:
https://medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/Sep2015/Hydroxychloroquine.htm
But that article doesn’t answer any of those questions I asked. It seems to suggest that the heart issues observed are all associated with prolonged use. And in any case, it suggests that these issues are typically reversible. It doesn’t proscribe the drug for people with pre-existing heart problems, but advises care with its use in that case.
Thats probably not much better than doing nothing. The drugs HCQ, zinc, and z-pac seem to work at least as well.
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When results break down to 1/3—1/3—1/3, it’s basically chance outcome. This is marginally better, but it’s close. Depends on the definition of *improvements*.
HCQ+Z+AZ is far and away superior in ovrall outcomes.
Yeah it has some troubling side effects. You can get a rash.
Hard choice, itch or die of suffocation.
Hmmm, decisions, decisions...
Are the dosages different by any chance? That is, is HCQ being given to corona patients in significantly larger doses than with malaria sufferers? As far as I know, people taking it for malaria don’t drop dead on a routine basis.
Nobody on the planet should be allowed to take aspirin, since it makes my heart race. /sarc
Just give me the pills and I’ll deal with any side effects if I live through it. The operative word there is live.
I thought I read that the coronavirus by itself causes heart problems.
I wonder if in treating before things get dire, if a lower dose and possibly duration is used and if that contributes to less cardiac risk. I really wish there was more info avail on what dosages are being used, at what course in treatment, in conjunction with what (azith, zinc) as well as what conditions and other meds patients have and the outcome for each.
'Dangerous side effects' for HCQ ... so dangerous in fact that the drug has been used in the same dosing level and higher, for fifty years, treating RA and Lupus. Yeah, the biggest danger is finding a way to halt a virus that does not have $s written all over it.
Secondly, the cardiac side effects for HCQ are only appearing in 47 out of every million DAILY LONG TERM users. The Covid treatment is one 200mg poll per day for only 5 days. There are literally millions of people who have been taking it daily for YEARS, and only 47 per million show the arrhythmia side effect. Even fewer have the blurred vision issues. (Liberals are literally saying "it causes blindness", which it has never done.)
Thirdly, 47 per million with a slightly different cardiogram pattern is far better than 20,000 dead per million. Anyone arguing otherwise clearly has another agenda in mind, aside from patient health and recovery.
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