Preventing Death in Critically Ill COVID Patients
In a just published study, adding this herbal extract to conventional treatment drastically reduced death in critically ill COVID patients who were admitted to ICU.
The nasty work that COVID does begins with a viral infection that causes immune dysregulation, which then causes a cytokine storm which leads to inflammation. That inflammatory storm leads to uncontrolled production of free radicals and, finally, to multiorgan dysfunction. There is a strong relationship between the degree of inflammation and both the severity of disease and death.
Xanthohumol is an ingredient in the herb hops that has been found to be anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and broadly antiviral. This double-blind study set out to see if those properties could translate into important help for people who were critically ill with COVID.
The 50 people who were included in the study were all between 22 and 83 years old. They were all being treated in ICU for severe COVID with acute respiratory failure. All of them were being treated with conventional medications, including remdesivir, corticosteroid therapy, anticoagulant therapy and insulin. Interestingly, the conventional treatment also included 4,000IU per day vitamin D. But while half the group added a placebo, the other half added hops extract rich in xanthohumol at a dose of 1.5mg/kg body weight, 3 times a day for 7 days.
The results were important. 12 people, or a full 48%, died in the group being treated with conventional treatment alone compared to 5 people, or a significantly fewer 20%, in the group that added the hops extract.
The hops extract significantly reduced the severity of the inflammatory response.
In the control group, CT scans showed only slight improvement of the lungs; in the hops extract group, there was significant improvement. In the control group, only 4 people could come of ventilation within 7 days, and 8 people needed tracheostomies; in the hops group, 14 people came off ventilation within 7 days and none required tracheostomy.
This study found that adding a hops extract rich in xanthohumol improved outcomes and significantly reduced deaths in critically ill patients being treated in ICU for severe COVID.
Biomed Pharmacother. Feb 2023;158:114082
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