Posted on 11/23/2021 12:09:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
A widely available drug used to treat alcoholism has potential as a COVID-19 treatment, researchers say.
The investigators found that people taking disulfiram, known as Antabuse, for alcoholism had a lower risk of infection with COVID-19 and were less likely to die from the coronavirus if infected than those not taking the drug.
The study was observational, so it doesn't establish a cause-and-effect link between disulfiram and COVID-19 infection and outcomes.
However, the results are encouraging enough to warrant further study and clinical testing, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital.
"This is a great candidate for a repurposed drug. It could easily be made available worldwide if we can prove it has a positive effect on patients with COVID-19," said Chris Sander, a professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data from more than 944,000 U.S. veterans who had at least one COVID-19 test between February 2020 and February 2021, including more than 2,200 who had been prescribed disulfiram for alcoholism.
The study found that those taking disulfiram had a 34% lower rate of COVID-19 infection than those who weren't taking the drug. None of the infected veterans who were taking disulfiram died, compared with 3% of infected veterans who weren't taking the drug.
The findings were recently published online in the journal PLOS ONE.
"There's evidence that disulfiram not only reduces the incidence of [COVID-19] infection, but it may actually reduce the number of deaths," Sander said in a Harvard news release.
It's not clear how the drug may combat the coronavirus, but the researchers suggested it may interfere with an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. It's also possible that disulfiram may reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 by inhibiting a protein involved in hyperinflammation.
A small, randomized phase 2 clinical trial of disulfiram in patients with moderate COVID-19 is nearing completion, and another is underway. Sander and colleagues hope their study will lead to large international phase 3 trials of the drug.
If disulfiram proves to be effective, it could be added to the growing number of options to fight COVID-19, the researchers said.
They noted that disulfiram has been prescribed for more than 60 years as a treatment for alcoholism, and that it's safe, inexpensive, familiar to physicians, and widely used in many countries.
I wouldn’t say it treats alcoholism, it just makes you puke if you drink...
Must ban immediately. It WILL kill you. Do not use. Only the great and wise Fauci can determine how best to save the world. The alpha and omega Fauci.
It’s a worm dehorser.
And here I thought alcohol was an effective treatment against COVID.
It’s been working well for me at least.
Correct. All effective treatments are disinformation
I'm glad I took it for Lyme as it's the only medication that appears to have fully eradicated it but I'm not sure I'd want to take it again.
It effects dopamine levels, some of the time I was in a great mood, other times I felt empty. I now have an idea what's it's like to be bipolar. I Don't think I'd want to go through that again.
My understanding that alcohol kills germs and based on my 40 year trial it works great.
It’s a worm dehorser.
~~~
LOOOOL!
Just don't mix treatments, alcohol and disulfram is not a good combination.
We’re all test rats!
Disulfiram-loaded lactoferrin nanoparticles for treating inflammatory diseases
Fascinating.
Paging Mrs Frisby!!
“It’s a worm dehorser.”
****WINNER****
Flagyl does the same. I made that mistake. ONCE.
The lockdowns sure increased alcohol problems...
Was it fun?
The number one risk factor for dying of COVID in this country is going to a hospital, seeking treatment for COVID.
Uuuuuuhhhh.....no.
There’s this wacky theory of treating alcoholism where they surround you with mirrors, and make you drink until you’re puking everywhere. I guess the idea is you see how foolish you look...
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