Study Debunks Warning About Taking NSAIDs for COVID-19
/By Pat Anson, PNN Editor
We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19 over the last few months, including what medications help and don’t help coronavirus patients. While much attention has been focused on the antiviral drugs hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, other more common medications used to treat pain and inflammation have been found to be useful in treating COVID-19 infections.
In the early stages of the pandemic, some health experts warned that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) – ibuprofen in particular – could weaken the immune system and make coronavirus symptoms worse. The French government even warned of "grave adverse effects" linked to the use of NSAIDs by COVID-19 patients and recommended acetaminophen (paracetamol) as a safer alternative.
“Taking anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, cortisone, ...) could be an aggravating factor of the infection. If you have a fever, take paracetamol,” tweeted Dr. Olivier Véran, France’s Health Minister.
That claim has now been debunked by Danish researchers, who reported in PLOS Medicine that ibuprofen and other NSAIDs do not increase the risk of serious illness from coronavirus infections. The researchers reached their conclusion after analyzing the health data of over 9,300 Danish residents who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus between February 27 and April 29, 2020.
In Denmark, NSAIDs are sold by prescription, except for low-dose ibuprofen that is sold over-the-counter. Researchers identified 248 coronavirus patients who filled a prescription for NSAIDs within 30 days of their positive COVID-19 tests and found they had the same risk of being hospitalized and dying from the coronavirus as those who did not take NSAIDs.
“Use of NSAIDs was not associated with increased 30-day mortality, a finding that was robust in a range of supplementary analyses. Likewise, use of NSAIDs was not associated with an increased risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, or renal replacement therapy in the adjusted analyses,” researchers reported.
“Considering the available evidence, there is no reason to withdraw well-indicated use of NSAIDs during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the well-established adverse effects of NSAIDs, particularly their renal, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular effects, should always be considered, and NSAIDs should be used in the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible duration for all patients.”
Concerns about steroid drugs resulting in poor outcomes for coronavirus patients are also misplaced, according to an analysis of studies recently published in JAMA. Researchers found that corticosteroids can actually be lifesaving for coronavirus patients and should be the first-line treatment for critically ill patients.
Two other recent studies found that patients with lupus and other forms of arthritis are not at increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19 due to the medications they take. Arthritis is often treated with steroids, biologics and other immune suppressing medications, which had raised concern that the drugs could make patients more susceptible to coronavirus infections. But researchers found that patients with arthritis in the New York City area had the same risk of hospitalization as the general population during the height of the city’s pandemic.
