NEW DELHI: Painkiller aspirin is to be tested for a possible treatment of COVID-19 in one of the Britain’s biggest trials, to assess whether it might reduce the risk of clots in infected patients.
Peter Horby, Co-Chief Investigator of the trial said that there are clear evidences to believe that aspirin might be beneficial and moreover, it is safe, inexpensive and widely available. According to RECOVERY trial’s website, patients infected with the novel coronavirus are at higher risk of blood clots because of hyper-reactive platelets. Aspirin is an anti-platelet agent and can reduce the risk if clots.
At least 2,000 patients are expected to randomly get 150 mg of aspirin daily along with the usual. Their data will be compared with qat least 2,000 such patients who receive the standard COVID-19 treatment, the website showed. Moreover, small doses of aspirin have been found to reduce the risk of certain cancers. As a blood thinner, it increases the risk of internal bleeding and exposure for a long time has been associated with kidney damage.
Gilead’s Remdesivir is the vaccine which is approved in United States of America (USO) but has shown poor results in a large World Health Organisation (WHO) trail. Unlike this, Aspirin is more generic and cheaper drug.