Free Republic

For patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), hydrocortisone is associated with a lower risk for death by day 28, according to a study. Pierre-François Dequin, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues conducted a phase 3 trial involving adults who had been admitted to the ICU for severe community-acquired pneumonia to assess whether early treatment with hydrocortisone reduced mortality at 28 days. Participants were randomly assigned to receive intravenous hydrocortisone (200 mg daily for four or eight days, as determined by clinical improvement, followed by tapering for a total of eight or 14 days) or placebo. All...

Abstract Sepsis is a devastating disease that carries an enormous toll in terms of human suffering and lives lost. Over 100 novel pharmacologic agents that targeted specific molecules or pathways have failed to improve the outcome of sepsis. Preliminary data suggests that the combination of Hydrocortisone, Ascorbic Acid and Thiamine (HAT therapy) may reduce organ failure and mortality in patients with sepsis and septic shock. HAT therapy is based on the concept that a combination of readily available, safe and cheap agents, which target multiple components of the host’s response to an infectious agent, will synergistically restore the dysregulated immune...