mortality rate Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Could Aspirin Intake Reduce Mortality Risk in COVID-19 Patients?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 07:00:34 +0000

Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D. via News-Medical – Scientists from the Michigan State University, USA, have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare mortality rate in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who are aspirin users or non-users. The Findings reveal that the use of aspirin is associated with a significant reduction in overall and in-hospital mortality rates. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server. Background As of July 13, 2021, globally, there have been 186 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 4 million deaths, registered to the World Health Organization. Although a significant proportion of COVID-19 patients remain asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, the disease can cause severe complications in susceptible individuals, including older adults and persons with comorbidities. In severely affected in-hospital COVID-19 patients, an estimated mortality rate of 11.5% has been reported in a recent study. According to available literature, the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 is associated with immune dysfunction, excessive inflammation, hypercoagulation, and cardiopulmonary thrombosis. Given these observations, the scientists in the current study have hypothesized that intake of aspirin may reduce the severity of COVID-19 through its anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, and immunomodulatory effects. Study Design In the meta-analysis, the scientists included recently published as well as unpublished studies from the PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases that reported the effect of low-dose aspirin consumption on COVID-19 related mortality. The studies that specifically compared aspirin use with no aspirin use in COVID-19 patients and reported events of mortality were included in the meta-analysis. The primary aim of the analysis was to determine all-cause and in-hospital mortality rates. The scientists used Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the quality of included studies. For each study, the scale provides a maximum of 9 points. A study with a score of 6 or higher is considered a high-quality publication with a low risk of bias. Important Observations From more than 900 initially included studies, the scientists finally selected five studies for the final qualitative and quantitative analyses. All selected studies were retrospective cohort studies, with four were on in-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and one was on non-hospitalized patients. Based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale scores, four out of five studies were high quality, and one was low quality. In the final five studies, there were 6,797 participants in the aspirin group and 7,268 participants in the non-aspirin group. The pooled data from 5 studies revealed that aspirin intake is associated with a 53% reduction in all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients. In the case of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the analysis revealed that the use of aspirin is associated with a 49% reduction in in-hospital mortality. Study Significance The study highlights the potential importance of aspirin intake in reducing mortality risk among hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Apart from anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet effects, aspirin is known to have antiviral effects against seasonal and pathogenic coronaviruses, such as human coronavirus-229E and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Moreover, aspirin has been used as one of the therapeutic interventions in COVID-19 patients. As mentioned by the scientists, the current study has some limitations. Because of the non-availability of clinical trial data on aspirin, the current analysis has included only observational studies. Moreover, the majority of selected studies are single-centered studies conducted in the USA and China. Thus, the findings may not be generalized to the global population. To read the original article click here.

The post Could Aspirin Intake Reduce Mortality Risk in COVID-19 Patients? appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Hydroxychloroquine + Azithromycin Therapy at a Higher Dose Improved Survival by Nearly 200% in Ventilated COVID Patients

AHA Publisher — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:00:14 +0000

Dr. Liji Thomas, MD via News-Medical – Treatment options have been limited in the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Earlier optimism regarding immunomodulatory drugs such as azithromycin (AZM) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) seemed to be undermined by results of large interventional trials. However, a fascinating new study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server (not peer-reviewed*), suggests that such disappointment may have been both premature and unwarranted, based on a re-analysis of over 250 patients on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) during the first two months of the pandemic. Using computational modeling, the use of weight-adjusted HCQ and AZM appears to be associated with a more than 100% increase in survival, without a clear correlation with ECG abnormalities. Study Details In this study, based on a subset of critically ill COVID-19 patients, consisting of patients who required intubation and IMV, data from the medical records were analyzed using several novel methods. This included not only the vital signs and laboratory values but the therapeutic methods. The study was carried out on patients at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, New Jersey, with just over 1% having been clinically diagnosed to have COVID-19. Of the 255 patients, almost 80% died during the study period. Seven patients were transferred to another hospital on the ventilator, mostly after day 40 of hospitalization. Parameters were broadly comparable between survivors and non-survivors, except that all patients with an active malignancy, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and stroke failed to survive. However, sex, race, presentation severity, and blood type had no association with survival chances. A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server. A preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific paper that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly or scientific journal. Laboratory Markers Laboratory markers of inflammation, such as Ferritin, D-dimer, Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), and C-reactive protein (CRP), were above average in almost every patient (96%). While all parameters, except the LDH, were equivalent in survivors and non-survivors, three patients had D-dimer values above 69,000 ng/mL. LDH values were higher in non-survivors by almost 30%. The increase in these parameters over time was characteristically steeper in patients who did not survive. Clinical Complications More than three in four non-survivors developed acute kidney injury (AKI), of which a tenth received renal replacement therapy (RRT). Of this latter group, a fifth survived. Almost 60% of patients were intubated within three days of hospitalization. The time to intubation did not predict survival, but intubation beyond day 15 was associated with survival in only 1 of 16 patients. More than 90% of the patients in this cohort had high blood glucose levels above 140 mg/dL, peak at >200 mg/dL, without corticosteroid therapy. Although none were known to be diabetics, most probably had impaired glucose tolerance before they acquired SARS-CoV-2. This prevalence is higher than in most other studies, probably because the researchers looked actively for hyperglycemia Obesity While half of the patients were obese, and 30% were overweight, the older patients were significantly heavier. That is, 74% of those above 60 were obese, vs 37% of those below this age. The mean body weight was approximately 90 kg, but unlike most antibiotic clinical trials, the range of body weight was extensive. The heaviest patient thus weighed approximately seven times more than the lightest. Notably, blood glucose levels or obesity did not predict a good clinical outcome. Therapeutic Drugs The chief therapeutic classes included steroids, tocilizumab, convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine, and azithromycin. Corticosteroids, when given at 6 mg or more, reduced the mortality risk 1.4 times. Meanwhile, the interleukin-6 receptor blocker) tocilizumab had two-fold lower mortality. Convalescent plasma (CP) was used only from week 4, in a fifth of the patients, mostly younger than those who did not receive it. The survival of the group which received CP was almost doubled from CP non-users. HCQ was used in 94% of patients within 48 hours of emergency room arrival, while >55% received 2,000-3,000 mg, cumulatively. Of this number, approximately 63% also received AZM. This combination fell out of favor over the study period based on external recommendations. Effect of HCQ/AZM on Mortality With every log increase in the cumulative dose of HCQ, the mortality rate fell by 1.12 times, such that at 3 g HCQ, survival odds rose by 2.5 times. When given together with AZM, the benefit was still more significant. Chances of survival increased further. Among those who received both > 3g HCQ and >1g AZM, almost half survived, compared to one in seven (16%) among patients who received one of these drugs at the same dosages. This means a 32% absolute difference in survival, or a relative improvement in survival odds of 200%, with the combination of HCQ/AZM at this dosage. This far exceeds the survival benefit cited in any study of any intervention so far. When HCQ/AZM was given at lower dosages, the risk of death was over three times higher relative to the above combination and dosage regimen. When the cohort was divided into patients who received >3g HCQ/>1g AZM and those who did not, overall, the absolute chances of survival were 23% higher for the first group. The 17% survival in the second group would have increased to 39% with the former treatment, predicted the researchers. This indicates that treatment with >3g HCQ/>1g AZM was associated with a more than 130% increase in survival rate compared to any other standard therapy. Weight-Adjusted Cumulative Dosage The researchers also found that when adjusted for weight, the cumulative dose would have a still greater effect. In fact, the average treatment effect (difference in mean survival, in this case) shows a steep increase between 40-50 mg/kg to peak at 46% for a dose of 82 mg/kg. Thus, patients receiving HCQ above 80 mg/kg of HCQ with >1g AZM had 14 times higher survival odds compared to those who did not. If HCQ dosage was fixed at >3g, the odds of survival were 7 times higher, or less than half of that achieved with the weight-adjusted cumulative dosage. “The fact that weight-adjusted cumulative dose has an even greater effect on survival than cumulative HCQ dose is strong confirmation of the causal relationship between this treatment and improvement in survival rate.” Age was another major factor since those older than 60 were five times more likely to succumb than younger patients. Hyperlipidemia was the single comorbidity linked to approximately four times higher odds of death. Interestingly, there was no correlation between the cumulative dose of HCQ (or AZM) and the occurrence of QTc prolongation. In fact, the QT interval began to fall during the period when the cumulative dose of HCQ increased. None of the patients showed torsades de pointes. What Are the Implications? These findings indicate that a steeply rising ferritin, D-dimer and LDH over time predict poor survival, the rate of rise being several times greater for non-survivors. This should be validated to help provide a better prognosis for COVID-19 patients. The extensive range of obesity among critically ill patients indicates that weight-adjusted dosage is critical in achieving the correct therapeutic levels. Moreover, AZM is an independent contributor to improved survival. Most importantly, this is the first clinical study to demonstrate the remarkable benefit of using cumulative doses of HCQ>3g/AZM>1g, compared to those not treated with this combination. Why did such a large effect miss observation? For one thing, HCQ produces its benefit by cumulative effects on the target cells, which is weight-dependent. The failure to treat patients with weight-adjusted doses leads to ineffective treatment and outcomes biased towards lighter patients. HCQ is both safe and tolerable at higher doses, as shown in studies of rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Such high doses for such long durations have not been used to treat COVID-19. The earlier studies claiming prolongation of the QTc duration with HCQ in COVID-19 treatment are shown to be flawed. Indeed, available data suggests that this finding is due to the underlying illness itself. The investigators also point out: “On April 24, 2020, the FDA issued a warning about the possible effects of low HCQ on QTc interval (47). Since 2010, the FDA has approved over 150 clinical trials, which include HCQ treatment. The FDA did and does not require monitoring for cardiotoxicity. In each of these trials, the total HCQ dose and expected tissue levels are markedly higher than used or seen in Covid patients. This discrepancy lacks logic or explanation.” In this startling study, the investigators carefully re-examined the data, showing that among critically ill COVID-19 patients on IMV, less than 4% “walk out of hospital.” In contrast, the survival benefit of combined HCQ/AZM at a cumulative dosage of >80 mg/kg and >1g, respectively, is shown to be both clear and significant. The safety at such doses is obvious, since survival is increased by almost 130% in this very high-risk population. Moreover, it appears that AZM is an important component of this therapy in terms of mortality reduction. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. To read the original article click here.

The post Hydroxychloroquine + Azithromycin Therapy at a Higher Dose Improved Survival by Nearly 200% in Ventilated COVID Patients appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Drinking This Nitrate-Rich Juice Offers POWERFUL Benefits to People With Heart Failure

AHA Publisher — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 07:00:56 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Heart disease, a condition in which the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands, currently affects 5.7 million people in the United States, with roughly 550,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Unfortunately, heart failure – often triggered by coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease – features a high mortality rate. The ability to undertake medically supervised, appropriate physical activity is key to the survival of heart failure patients, especially in the early stages. But shortness of breath and fatigue – classic symptoms of the condition – can make exercise difficult. And this is where a particular nitrate-rich juice comes in. A study from researchers at Indiana University suggested that dietary nitrates from beet juice could improve the ability of heart failure patients to exercise. CATCH 22 – While Heart Failure Symptoms Make Exercise Difficult, Inactivity Worsens Survival Rate Not only is inactivity a major risk factor for heart failure, but it has been shown in studies to worsen the survival rate once the condition has developed. In one study, only 25 percent of heart failure patients with a sedentary lifestyle were still alive two and a half years after being admitted to the hospital – compared with 75 percent of physically active patients. Scientists report that medically supervised regular activity that provokes mild-to-moderate shortness of breath can improve quality of life, increase functional capacity, promote endothelial function and reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in heart patients. Most important of all, it reduces both hospitalizations and deaths. Nitrate-Rich Juice Enhances Exercise Capability of Heart Failure Patients and Elite Athletes Alike Noting that heart failure patients exhibit lower exercise efficiency, shortness of breath, and diminished peak oxygen uptake (VO peak) during exercise, researchers wanted to see if dietary nitrates from beet juice could help. Nitrates, found in great supply in beetroot and beet juice, are converted during exercise into beneficial nitric oxide. Earlier studies had shown that nitrates improve muscle contractile function and physical performance. In the double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in Journal of Cardiac Failure, the team found that beet juice supplementation caused significant increases in exercise duration, peak power, and peak oxygen uptake in heart failure patients. As a result, the participants could exercise longer without becoming fatigued. The scientists concluded that dietary nitrates could be a valuable means of enhancing exercise capability in patients with heart failure. But Wait, There Is More! Heart Failure Patients Can Also Expect Increased Muscle Power From Beet Juice, According to Study In research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO., and published in Circulation: Heart Failure, scientists built upon earlier research showing that dietary nitrates improve muscle performance for elite athletes. To conduct the study, researchers gave heart failure patients either beet juice or a placebo version – identical, except that the nitrates had been removed. Those who had received the “live” beet juice showed a 13 percent increase in muscle power over those who received the nitrate-depleted juice. Particularly, power increased in the muscles that extend the knee, which obviously has great relevance to walking and running. The researchers compared the “magnitude of improvement” in the heart failure patients to that of patients who had performed two to three months of resistance training – a remarkable result. Lead study author Dr. Linda R. Peterson, associate professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine, commented that many everyday activities in life – even those as simple as climbing stairs or getting in and out of a bathtub – are “power-based.” The goal, she said, is to make people more powerful. In addition to benefiting the quality of life, power is an important indication of how well patients will do when battling health conditions such as heart failure or cancer. Beet Juice May Help Prevent Life-Threatening Chronic Diseases Increased exercise capacity is not the only gift of beet juice to the heart. The increased production of nitric oxide helps dilate blood vessels and combats high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke. One study showed that drinking 250 ml (about eight ounces) of nitrate-rich beet juice a day significantly lowered blood pressure, leading the researchers to advise eating high-nitrate vegetables as a low-cost way to help treat hypertension. (Of course, never reduce or eliminate prescribed medication unless advised to do so by your doctor). Beets may also help fight type 2 diabetes with their content of alpha-lipoic acid. This powerful antioxidant has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar. In addition, beets contain natural plant pigments known as betalains, which can disrupt potentially cancer-causing mutations of cell DNA. While more study is needed, researchers are intrigued by betalains’ potential for acting against cancer. If you choose to get your beets in the form of the cooked root vegetable rather than the juice, you will be benefiting from a hefty 3.81 grams of fiber per cup. Dietary fiber has been shown in numerous studies to help prevent colon cancer. Clearly, it is not just heart failure patients that may be helped by beet juice. Older individuals without heart failure could benefit – along with the rest of the general population, many of whom don’t take in enough nutrient-rich, antioxidant-laden healthy fare. By the way, other promising natural interventions for heart failure include hawthorn, CoQ10, and fish oil. Naturally, check with your doctor before supplementing. Whether you are a heart disease patient, an athlete in training, or just someone looking to improve their health, it looks like lifting a glass (of nitrate-rich beet juice) is a wise move. Sources for this article include: ScienceDaily.com MedicalNewsToday.com LifeExtension.com MedicalNewsToday.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

The post Drinking This Nitrate-Rich Juice Offers POWERFUL Benefits to People With Heart Failure appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

COVID-19 Mortality Rate Declines Significantly in Sweden

AHA Publisher — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 08:00:43 +0000

Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD via News-Medical Net – A new observational study by Swedish researchers shows a significant decline in death rates among hospitalized patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Their study titled, “Decline in mortality among hospitalized covid-19 patients in Sweden: a nationwide observational study,” was released online as a preprint on the medRxiv* server. Background The novel coronavirus SARS CoV-2 that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has infected over 44 million individuals worldwide and claimed the lives of over 1.17 million. Most COVID cases are hospitalized for complications caused by the infection. The virus’s immense capacity to infect populations and spread rapidly has put enormous pressure on the healthcare system in general and on hospitals in particular, wrote the researchers. Those admitted to hospitals with COVID have a mortality of over 20 percent. Thirty-four percent of patients require intensive care. The proportion of patients requiring ICU admission is between 17 and 32 percent wrote the team. These numbers are derived from studies conducted between February and April 2020. With time, the understanding of the infection and its management has improved, and thus survival has also improved with time. This new study was undertaken among Swedish patients to see if there has been a change in mortality rates among hospitalized COVID-19 patients across the nation. The researchers attempted to see 60-day mortality (defined as death from any cause within 60 days of index hospital admission), mortality rate of the COVID-19 patients for both non-ICU treated, and ICU treated patients during the first 4 months of the pandemic. The data came from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW). Flow chart of study inclusion: Patients hospitalized for covid-19 in Sweden 1 March – 30 June, 2020 Study design This was a nationwide observational cohort study of patients hospitalized in Sweden between 1st March and 30th June 2020. The patients had all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA between 14 days before to 5 days after admission. The code on their discharge was COVID-19. All hospitals in Sweden were included in the study. A total of 15,761 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. The data came from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. 60-day all-cause mortality for the patients was recorded and analyzed. The patient population was classified according to the month of their admission. Relative risks of deaths in the patients by month of admission were calculated. Factors such as pre-existing comorbidities, age, gender and care dependency, and severe illness were considered. To assess the severity of illness, Simplified Acute Physiology, version 3 (SAPS3), and oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) were used among ICU admitted patients. Treatments and procedures they underwent in the ICU were also recorded. Timeline of patients admitted to, and in care, in hospitals for covid-19 in Sweden during the study period. Shown are number of patients admitted per day into hospital (by index admission date), and into ICU specifically (by ICU admission date) on left Y-axis; number of patients in care per day in hospital, and in ICU specifically on right Y-axis What was found? Overall results of the study can be summarized as: A total of 15,761 patients were admitted. The patients’ median age was 64 years (between 51 and 78 years), and of these, 57.5 percent were men. The highest number of admissions was during April 2020 The proportion of patients admitted to ICU was 14.4 percent overall. Age distribution of admitted patients changed over time, with the number of patients less than 40 years old and over 90 years of age rising between March and June. The overall all-cause 60-day mortality was 17.8 percent (between 17.2 and 18.4 percent) among Swedish patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The rates of deaths were 24.7 in March 2020 that fell to 13.3 percent in June 2020 Adjusted relative risk (RR) of death was 0.56 (95 percent CI, 0.51 to 0.63) for June, with rates inMarch used as a baseline. Compared to ICU admitted patients, relative risks of death for non-ICU patients were 0.60 (95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.67) and 0.61 (95 percent CI, 0.48 to 0.79), respectively. Admission rates to the ICU fell from 19.5 percent (95 percent CI, 17.9 percent to 21.0 percent) in March to 11.0 percent (95 percent CI, 9.9 percent to 12.2 percent) in June 2020. In June, the proportion of ICU admitted patients receiving mechanical ventilation fell from 86.5 percent in March to 58.6 percent. In June, the proportion of ICU admitted patients receiving dialysis fell from 22.8 percent in March to 13.8 percent. SAPS3 and PaO2/FiO2 on ICU admission remained similar throughout the study period among the patients roportion of patients treated in ICU and receiving invasive mechanical ventilation during the hospital stay, according to month of hospital admission. Shown are proportions with 95% confidence intervals Conclusions and implications This study reveals that there has been a decline in the mortality rates among hospitalized Swedish COVID-19 patients with time over the pandemic. This decline is independent of the pre-existing comorbidities among the patients. Authors call for further research to understand the reasons behind this decline. Authors write, “The changing covid-19 mortality should be taken into account when management and results of studies from the first pandemic wave are evaluated.” *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Journal reference: Decline in mortality among hospitalised covid-19 patients in Sweden: a nationwide observational study Kristoffer Stralin, Erik Wahlstrom, Sten Walther, Mona Heurgren, Anna M Bennet-Bark, Thomas Linden, Johanna Holm, Hakan Hanberger medRxiv 2020.10.27.20220061; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.27.20220061, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.27.20220061v1 To read the original article click here.

The post COVID-19 Mortality Rate Declines Significantly in Sweden appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Distancing, Not Lockdowns, Prevents Covid Deaths

AHA Publisher — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 07:00:37 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – As many countries confront a resurgence of Covid-19 infection, Israel has chosen the lockdown direction. Parts of Australia – Melbourne in particular – have been under coronavirus restrictions since the beginning of August. Regions of France, Spain and the UK have reintroduced partial lockdowns, as well. New research from Tel Aviv University based on mobility data collected from iPhone users and published this week in preprint form on the website medRxiv argues that rigorous lockdowns may not save lives. The authors say the most important factor for decreasing mortality (number of deaths) –as opposed to morbidity, the number of infections — is how quickly social-distancing measures are implemented. They found no statistical correlation between the severity of a lockdown and the number of Covid-19 fatalities in the country. “We would have expected to see fewer Covid-19 fatalities in countries with a tighter lockdown, but the data reveals that this is not the case,” the researchers explain. “Mobility data indicates that a hermetic lockdown, in which everyone must stay at home, is unnecessary,” said Prof. Tal Pupko, head of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, and Prof. Itay Mayrose of TAU’s Faculty of Life Sciences. “What we need is fast implementation of social distancing.” Pupko and Mayrose looked at iPhone data showing the extent of mobility — the average number of citizens traveling by vehicle –on a specific day in each of the OECD countries studied. They then adjusted that data to the size of the population and typical mobility patterns in that country. There was an all-around decrease in mobility starting in March. However, what was important was the date on which a country implemented social-distancing measures. For example, mobility data indicates that the time it took to respond to the pandemic and the severity of the lockdown were similar in Israel and the Czech Republic. However, even though Israel’s lockdown was longer than that in Czechia, the two countries’mortality rates remained similar. Another example: The lockdown in Spain was longer and tighter than the French closure, but when both ended, mortality rates in the two countries were about the same, since both started social distancing at around the same time. A delay of 7.49 days in introducing social-distancing measures doubled mortality, the researchers discovered. “Israel could have reached the same mortality rate with a lockdown that was less economically and socially lethal – in the first round and probably in the present outbreak as well,” the scientists say. “Countries that responded quickly with social-distancing measures – not necessarily with a tight lockdown – ultimately emerged from the first outbreak with better results. Even in Sweden, a country that never imposed a lockdown, we can see that the early decrease in mobility, starting in March, was manifested in the mortality rate.” The researchers note that their study “is based purely on observations and does not relate to the premises of any existing epidemiological model.” Gil Loewenthal, Shiran Abadi, Oren Avram, Keren Halabi, Noa Ecker and Nathan Nagar of TAU’s Faculty of Life Sciences also participated in the research. The paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

The post Distancing, Not Lockdowns, Prevents Covid Deaths appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Study of 300 COVID-19 Patients Shows Efficacy of Convalescent Plasma Therapy

AHA Publisher — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 07:00:29 +0000

Elsevier via News-Medical Net – A preliminary analysis of an ongoing study of more than 300 COVID-19 patients treated with convalescent plasma therapy at Houston Methodist suggests the treatment is safe and effective. The results, which appear now in The American Journal of Pathology, represents one of the first peer-reviewed publications in the country assessing efficacy of convalescent plasma. From March 28, when Houston Methodist became the first academic medical center in the nation to infuse critically ill COVID-19 patients with plasma donated from recovered patients, research physicians have used the treatment on 350 patients. The study tracked severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to Houston Methodist’s system of eight hospitals from March 28 through July 6. These latest results from Houston Methodist that now measured medical effectiveness offer valuable scientific evidence that transfusing critically ill COVID-19 patients with high antibody plasma early in their illness – within 72 hours after hospitalization proving most effective – reduced the mortality rate. The study, titled “Treatment of COVID-19 Patients with Convalescent Plasma Reveals a Signal of Significantly Decreased Mortality,” was led by principal investigator Eric Salazar, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology and Genomic Medicine with the Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute, and corresponding author James M. Musser, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist. “Our studies to date show the treatment is safe and, in a promising number of patients, effective. While convalescent plasma therapy remains experimental and we have more research to do and data to collect, we now have more evidence than ever that this century-old plasma therapy has merit, is safe, and can help reduce the death rate from this virus.” (Dr. James M. Musser, Chair of the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist) The research team found that those treated early in their illness with donated plasma that has the highest concentration of anti-COVID-19 antibodies are more likely to survive and recover than similar patients who were not treated with convalescent plasma. Patients with a history of severe reactions to blood transfusions, those with underlying uncompensated and untreatable end-stage disease, and patients with fluid overload or other conditions that would increase the risk of plasma transfusion were excluded. The patients were tracked for 28 days after plasma transfusion and compared to a control group of similar COVID-19 patients who did not receive convalescent plasma. An observational propensity score-matched analysis was used to balance the characteristics of participants and allow for an objective interpretation of the results at this stage. Several studies have measured safety, showing that the more than 34,000 COVID-19 patients in the United States who have received plasma transfusions for COVID-19 experienced minimal adverse effects. To read the original article click here.

The post Study of 300 COVID-19 Patients Shows Efficacy of Convalescent Plasma Therapy appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Study Links Fermented Vegetable Consumption to Low COVID-19 Mortality

AHA Publisher — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 07:00:08 +0000

Sally Robertson, B.Sc. via News-Medical Net – An intriguing new study by researchers in Europe suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality rates are likely to be lower in countries where diets are rich in fermented vegetables. Earlier this year, Jean Bousquet (Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and colleagues investigated whether diet may contribute to the significant variation in COVID-19 death rates that have been observed between countries. The study found that in some countries with low mortality rates, the consumption of traditional fermented foods was high. “Now referring to the current study, “the negative ecological association between COVID-19 mortality and consumption of fermented vegetables supports the hypothesis previously reported,” writes the team. The researchers say that if their hypothesis is confirmed in future studies, COVID-19 will be the first infectious disease epidemic to involve biological mechanisms that are associated with a loss of “nature.” Significant changes in the microbiome caused by modern life and less fermented food consumption may have increased the spread or severity of the disease, they say. A pre-print version of the paper is available on the server medRxiv*, while the article undergoes peer review. However, this paper is a preliminary report and should not be regarded as conclusive or established information. Unexplained Geographical Variation in COVID-19 Mortality Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, China, late last year, it has exhibited significant and unexplained geographical variations in the number of people infected and mortality rates. In Europe, the death rate in Italy, France, and the UK, for example, has been very high, compared with the Balkans and some Nordic countries. Similar disparities have also been observed across the globe. Although aspects such as age structure, the timing of interventions, employment type, and housing conditions are likely to be the most relevant factors, other potentially relevant factors such as nutrition should not be overlooked, say Bousquet and colleagues. The Potential Role Nutrition May Play Many foods have antioxidative properties, and nutrition has been proposed to play a mitigating role in COVID-19. The fermentation process increases the antioxidant activity of food products, including milk, fruit, vegetables, and meat. Bousquet and team hypothesized that the consumption of fermented foods might explain some of the differences in COVID-19 mortality rates between countries in Europe. To test the hypothesis, the team used information from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database to assess the consumption of different fermented foods by country, including vegetables, milk, yogurt, sour milk, and pickled/marinated vegetables. COVID-19 mortality rates were calculated using information from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, and EuroStat was used to obtain data on confounders by country, including gross domestic product, population density, the proportion aged over 64 years, unemployment rate and obesity prevalence. What Did the Study Find? The researchers report that of all the variables considered, only fermented vegetables had a significant impact on the mortality rate by country. For each gram per day increase in the average national consumption of fermented vegetables, the risk for COVID-19 mortality fell by 35.4%. “Although this study is only indicative of the role of diet in COVID-19, it is, however, another piece of the hypothesis proposing that traditional fermented foods may be involved in the prevention of severe COVID-19 at a country level,” writes the team. What About Regions Outside of Europe? The researchers point out that their study was restricted to European countries and that it would be useful to test the hypothesis in other regions where fermented food consumption is high, and COVID-19 mortality rates are low. In Asia, for example, death rates are very low, and the pandemic appears to be under control, say Bousquet and team. “The same happened in Africa where the COVID-19 spread was predicted to be catastrophic, and death rates appear to be low,” they write. The authors say it would be of great value to use food consumption data from such countries to perform definitive epidemiologic and mechanistic studies to confirm the current findings. A “Loss of Nature” May Be Involved “If the hypothesis is proved, COVID-19 will be the first infectious disease epidemic whose biological mechanisms are proved to be associated with a loss of nature,’” writes the team. “When modern life led to eating reduced amounts of fermented foods, the microbiome drastically changed, and this may have facilitated SARS-CoV-2 to spread or to be more severe.” The hypothesis requires testing in individual studies conducted in countries where there is widespread high consumption of fermented vegetables, concludes the team. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. To read the original article click here.

The post Study Links Fermented Vegetable Consumption to Low COVID-19 Mortality appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Actual Mortality Rate of COVID-19-Affected Adults Is Less Than What Was Previously Reported

AHA Publisher — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 07:00:18 +0000

Wolters Kluwer Health via News-Medical Net – An online first study published in Critical Care Medicine indicates the actual mortality rate of adults with critical illness from COVID-19 is less than what was previously reported. Compared to earlier reports of a 50 percent mortality rate, the study finds that the mortality rate of critically ill patients who required mechanical ventilation was only 35.7 percent. About 60 percent of patients observed in the study survived to hospital discharge. The study observed patients 18 years and older from six COVID-19 designated intensive care units in three hospitals in Atlanta, Ga. from March to April 2020. The authors note that several considerations may have influenced the outcomes of the study including that all critically ill patients with COVID-19 in the hospital network were admitted to pre-existing ICUs that had adequate staffing ratios and equipment. An accompanying online first editorial examines the role of mainstream and social media in creating the narrative that intubation and mechanical ventilation were “the cause of suboptimal outcomes” for critically ill COVID-19 patients, without accounting for hospital staffing and equipment shortages. To read the original article click here.

The post Actual Mortality Rate of COVID-19-Affected Adults Is Less Than What Was Previously Reported appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.