According to research published in Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine journal, Covid patients who take blood thinners may have a nearly 50% lower risk of mortality and a 43% lower chance of hospitalization. The study included 6,195 individuals over 18 who were diagnosed with Covid between March 4 and August 27, 2020, at 12 hospitals and 60 clinics across the United States. The researchers from the University of Minnesota in the United States and Basel University in Switzerland investigated the link between 90-day anticoagulation medication among out-patients before to Covid-19 diagnosis and the risk of hospitalization and mortality.

The researchers also looked at the relationship between anticoagulation treatment, intended to prevent blood clots, and the risk of death in hospitalized patients. Despite being older and having more chronic medical illnesses than their counterparts, individuals taking blood thinners before getting Covid-19 were 43 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital, according to the study. Blood thinners, whether used before becoming infected with Covid-19 or begun after being brought to the hospital to treat the viral illness, cut mortality in half, they noted.

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Overall, the researchers discovered that blood thinners help hospitalized Covid patients regardless of the kind or amount of medicine administered. According to Sameh Hozayen, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and the study’s principal author, many people with Covid-19 have irregular blood clots due to excessive inflammation, which may lead to significant health issues and death. She went on to say that blood thinners are medicines used to prevent blood clots in individuals who have had a previous blood clot in their lungs or legs. They also help avoid blood clots in the brain caused by irregular heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation.

According to the researchers, blood thinners are the standard of care in these illnesses. Therefore they examined data to see if it affected hospitalizations due to Covid-19. The researchers also discovered that around half of the people prescribed blood thinners for blood clots in their legs, lungs, irregular heart rhythms, or other causes do not take them. According to the researchers, increasing adherence for patients who are already taking blood thinners might potentially minimize the adverse effects of Covid-19.

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The team is also collaborating with research organizations in other areas of the globe, such as Egypt, to examine how blood thinners affect patients in less-invested healthcare systems and in different patient demographics.

Last Updated Oct 4, 2021, 10:00 PM IST