HealthDay Reporter
Friday, February 12th, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Giving Blood thinners For COVID-19 patients soon after they are hospitalized, it can reduce the risk of death.
This is the result of a new study that analyzed data from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on nearly 4,300 patients, average age 68, who were hospitalized with COVID between March 1 and July 31.
Of these, over 84% received Blood thinners Within 24 hours of admission – a step called preventive anticoagulation.
At 30 days after admission, the overall mortality rate was 14.5%.
The mortality rate was 14.3% among patients treated with blood thinners and 18.7% among those who did not.
The benefit was greater among patients who were not admitted to intensive care within 24 hours of admission to hospital.
The researchers said they took into account other potentially important factors such as patients’ age, ethnicity, underlying health conditions, drug history, weight and tobacco use.
Significantly, patients treated with blood thinners did not have a higher risk of serious bleeding than those who did not receive blood thinners, according to the team led by Christopher Ranch, assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England. The results were published February 11 in BMJ.
Some of the COVID-19 deaths are thought to be caused by Blood clots Formation in the specialty Arteries And veins. Blood thinners prevent clots and have antiviral, and possibly anti-inflammatory properties.
Clinical trials They are conducted to determine whether preventive anticoagulation can be an effective treatment for COVID-19.
Until the results of these trials are available, the results of this study “provide solid, factual evidence to support guidelines that recommend the use of preventive anticoagulation as a primary treatment for patients with COVID-19 upon hospitalization,” Wrench and colleagues said in a regular press release. .
more information
More on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Covid-19.
Source: BMJ, press release, February 11, 2021