Low-dose aspirin may help keep coronavirus patients away from ventilators, reduce their chances of admission to the intensive care unit, and reduce the risk of hospital deaths, according to a new study.
Researchers from George Washington University in a study published last week in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia found that the affordable and readily available drug is likely to prevent small blood clots, which ultimately protect the lungs of COVID-19 patients.
For the study, the team looked at the medical records of more than 400 patients admitted between March and July 2020 at GW Hospital, the University of Maryland Medical Center, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center or Northeast Georgia Health System. Some of the patients (approximately 24%) received aspirin within the first day of their admission to one of the hospitals or took it in the seven days before admission. About 76% did not take aspirin in the study.
After adjusting for several factors, the team found that aspirin was associated with a 44% reduction in ventilation risk, a 43% reduction in the risk of uptake into the treatment room, and a 47% decrease in the hospital deaths.
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In addition, there was a difference in severe bleeding or overt thrombosis between aspirin users and non-aspirin users’, reads a news release on the findings.
“As we learned about the link between blood clots and COVID-19, we knew that aspirin – used to prevent stroke and heart attack – could be important for COVID-19 patients,” said Dr. Jonathan Chow, assistant professor of anesthesia and critical care. medicine and director of the Critical Care Anesthesiology Fellowship at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said in a statement. “Our research found an association between low-dose aspirin and reduced severity of COVID-19 and death.”
That said, the study was observational, meaning that one group did not intentionally receive aspirin, while another received a placebo.
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The findings are in line with other research on the subject. In a study published last month in PLOS One, which involved about 30,000 U.S. veterans, researchers also found a significantly reduced risk of death due to the new virus in those who already use aspirin daily, compared to those who did not.
“Aspirin is cheap, easily accessible and millions are already using it to treat their health conditions,” he added. “Finding this association is a great victory for those who want to reduce the risk of some of the most devastating effects of COVID-19.”