This is how dexamethasone works, the 'anticovid' drug that Donald Trump receives

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The current treatment of President Donald Trump is far from the hydroxychloroquine that he himself said he was taking as a prevention.

His medical team has stated that dexamethasone is administered, after the appearance of "some episodes of transient drops in oxygen saturation."

What is dexamethasone?

It is a

that is used to

produced by the body.

This therapy is approved by

the main regulatory agencies, FDA and EMA, against covid-19 in those forms that require hospitalization.

This medicine from the family of corticosteroids is used to treat the infection from the beginning, as Patricia Fanlo, coordinator of the Group of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (GEAS) of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), points out. , Spain incorporated it as one of the

essential drugs against covid-19

.

And, after a meta-analysis of seven trials, the World Health Organization gave the final endorsement in updating its guidelines at the beginning of this month of September.

Why is it used?

After the infection phase generated by SARS-CoV-2, a second stage takes place in which a kind of

organic inflammation

when the body tries to fight it.

When the response of the defenses is exaggerated, it turns against the organism and can end with an attack on the cells themselves.

Thus, the

dexamethasone

slows down this process the so-called '

cytokine storm

'In China, as noted in a report by

Signal Transduct Target Therapy

, corticosteroids are widely used to

prevent lung injury caused by severe acquired pneumonia

in the community due to its excellent pharmacological effects in suppressing exuberant and dysfunctional systemic inflammation from the beginning of the pandemic.

When is it administered?

In clinical trials, and in practice, it has been found that its use is only indicated in people who remain admitted to the hospital and receive oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

The WHO has stated that "this is the

first treatment shown to reduce mortality

in COVID-19 patients who require oxygen or respiratory assistance. "

Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH)

explains that "about six milligrams are usually used, doses that are used regularly in routine pathologies such as asthma."

So the amounts are not aggressive in the face of the aforementioned infectious side effects, as has been seen to happen with the flu.

Furthermore, "we believe that the secret of good results, especially in seriously ill patients, is that it prevents the inflammatory reaction that alters the body."

So it only works against the most serious forms?

Its usefulness has also been seen in moderates.

"When we saw that it worked, too

we used them for less severe cases that only needed oxygen

", Ana Fernández Cruz explains from the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Madrid Hospital Puerta de Hierro.

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