COVID fatalities can be reduced to half using blood thinners, study claims

New research claims that COVID patients who take blood thinners before or after getting infected with the disease can cut their death rate in half. The study, which was published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal EClinicalMedicine - The Lancet, looked at how to use prescribed blood thinners to prevent clotting and hospitalisations linked to COVID-19.

Despite being older on average and having more chronic medical illnesses than their counterparts, people on blood thinners before catching the virus were admitted to hospitals less frequently. Between March 4 and August 28, 2020, the researchers looked at 6,195 adult COVID-19 patients, including 598 who were admitted to the hospital right away and 5,597 who were treated as outpatients. 160 outpatients were already on blood thinners, and 331 were admitted to the hospital. Outpatients who were taking blood thinners at the time of diagnosis had a 43 per cent lower probability of being admitted to the hospital.

"They help protect the brain from blood clots"

Dr Sameh Hozayen, who is the main author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said in a press release that patients with a previous blood clot in their lungs take blood thinners to prevent blood clots. They help protect the brain from blood clots caused by irregular heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation. Blood thinners are the standard of care for these disorders, which is why they looked at data to determine if they had an influence on COVID-19-related hospitalisations, according to CTV News.

According to Dr Hozayen, most medical centres across the world now have protocols in place for starting COVID-19 patients on blood thinners as soon as they arrive in the hospital. As per the news channel, while it is simple to maintain track of prescription drug use in the hospital, one of the obstacles for patients who have previously been prescribed blood thinners and may be eligible for this study is getting them to stick to their schedule.

Blood thinners have been shown to save lives

He further said that they can potentially lessen COVID-19's negative effects by improving adherence among those who are currently on blood thinners. According to him, blood thinners have been shown to save the lives of people with blood coagulation disorders who do not have COVID-19.

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