Untested COVID-19 therapies may do more harm than good

Untested COVID-19 therapies may do more harm than good

(Web Desk) – American doctors have published a correspondence article warning that untested COVID-19 treatments may do more harm than good.

A team of doctors has published a correspondence article in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology warning that novel approaches to treating COVID-19 may do more harm than good.

The team, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, argues that doctors should rely on tried and tested, evidence-based intensive care practices rather than novel therapies.

Overlooking standard therapies

The rapid emergence and expansion of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has had an unprecedented effect on social and cultural practices across the world.

It has also had a significant impact on the medical staff and other health workers who are treating people who are severely ill with COVID-19. Public health systems are under strain due to the sudden increase in patients requiring intensive care.

Researchers and clinicians have been working hard to understand the virus so that they can determine the most effective treatments and therapies to help save lives and ease the pressure on intensive care units.

The authors note that COVID-19 does not perfectly match some definitions of other Acute Respiratory Distress Syndromes (ARDS), such as viral pneumonia. As a consequence, COVID-19 has received a designation as a variant of an ARDS.

The authors argue that this designation has encouraged some doctors to use novel therapies instead of standard ARDS treatments when treating COVID-19.

The authors believe this is a mistake and note that ARDS is a syndrome, and, as such, is heterogeneous. This means it can present in diverse ways.