Heartburn drug may help treat mild coronavirus symptoms, research finds
A widely available heartburn drug may help treat mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms, scientists believe.
New research found that 10 people who happened to be taking famotidine — sold under the brand name Pepcid AC in the UK — improved far more quickly than had been expected after contracting coronavirus.
The patients reported that respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath improved within 24 to 48 hours of taking famotidine three times a day.
Based on their findings, published in the journal Gut, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center, New York, are calling for further research on the effects of the indigestion drug on Covid-19 symptoms.
Meanwhile, a clinical trial testing the effects of famotidine in combination with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine is already under way at hospitals in New York.
Famotidine is an over-the-counter medicine belonging to a class of drugs known as histamine-2 receptor antagonists, which helps ease the symptoms of indigestion by reducing the amount of stomach acid produced.
The participants, which included six men and four women aged between 23 and 71, had been taking the medicine when they became ill with Covid-19.
Some of them had pre-existing health conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity which are associated with the severity of the disease, the researchers said. Yet all appeared to fight off the illness quickly.
Three of the patients experienced temporary forgetfulness, a known side-effect associated with taking the drug.
The researchers are hoping a bigger study will rule out that the drugs were having a placebo effect.
Writing in the journal, they wrote: “Our findings support the rigorous evaluation of famotidine as a potential therapy and of the use of symptom tracking for non-hospitalised patients with Covid-19.”
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