Ancient drug shows promise against severe COVID-19 in early trialhttps://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/06/24/Ancient-drug-shows-promise-against-severe-COVID-19-in-early-trial/6871593017348/There's new evidence that a 2,000-year-old medicine might offer hope against a modern scourge: COVID-19.
The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill. It's long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries. The drug was first sourced from the autumn crocus flower.
Doctors also sometimes use colchicine to treat pericarditis, where the sac around the heart becomes inflamed.
Now, a team of Greek researchers reporting Wednesday in JAMA Network Open said their small trial suggests colchicine may indeed help curb severe COVID-19.
This may be mankind's earliest plant-extract-synthesized anti-inflammatory. The autumn crocus flower was mentioned in either Egypt's New Kingdom for use against arthritis. Benjamin Franklin brought the plant to North America, an effective extract created in 1820, and the active ingredient, colchicine was purified in 1833. Evidently, it is effective against the inflammation and immune system over-reaction of Covid-19. It is not without uncomfortable/significant side effects with greater dosage.
