A new study by a joint team of researchers from Leumit Health Care Services, Bar-Ilan University, and Barzilai Medical Center has revealed that aspirin use can help reduce the risk of Covid-19.
The study, published in the journal FEBS (European Federation of Biochemical Societies) looked at the data collected from about 10,000 people in Israel who tested positive for the virus between 1 February and 30 June, 2020.
For the study, the researchers made two combinations: one that would regularly take a low dose of aspirin to treat cardiovascular diseases and those that do not take it at all.
The researchers found that people who take aspirin regularly were 29 percent more likely to catch coronavirus than those who do not take aspirin at all.
They also found that those who took aspirin and tested positive for the virus got two or three days faster than other infected individuals, according to their co. -diseases. The viral load was much lower due to aspirin intake.
“This observation of the potential beneficial effect of low doses of aspirin on Covid-19 disease is a foregone conclusion but it is very promising,” said Dr. Eli Magen from Barzilai Medical Center, led the study.
The team also planned to study the properties of aspirin that make it resistant to the Covid-19 virus.
“The current study sought to better understand the potential beneficial effects of aspirin in supporting the human immune system to fight Covid-19, ”Said Dr Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern from the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University.
“We plan to study a larger group of patients and in randomized clinical trials,” he said.
According to the doctors who conducted the study, medications based on acetylsalicylic acid – an essential component of aspirin – are used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation. These properties may have helped prevent Covid-19 infection.