Famotidine, also commonly know as Pepcid is an antacid that is used to treat common stomach issues such as heart burn or ulcers. It helps by decreasing the amount of acid that the stomach produces and relieves patients of the side effects.
With that being said Pepcid in Australia (Famotidine) is mostly known as a stomach drug, but what if it had other issues? Is there something else that the drug can aide in? Can it make more of a difference in the medical world than it already does?
Covid-19 or commonly known as the coronvirus is a virus that has started the pandemic from early 2020. It is an upper respiratory virus that causes severe issues in some patients and can make a normally healthy person very sick. The virus is know to have a long incubation period, anywhere from two to seven weeks. However when it does finally hit the immune system it can make someone sick very fast. We have found that even though the virus has some groups who are more likely to get sicker than others, such as the elderly, it can make people from all walks of life sicker than we ever anticipated.
There has been a recent study ongoing whether or not Pepcid could make a difference for covid-19. We did not have a real idea on how to treat the virus and up to this point there is no standard care. However with that being said the treatment of Famotidine is one of many studies that are being done right now to treat the virus. Pepcid has been shown to reduce deaths and incubation periods of the virus by inverse agonism. It fights directly with the virus and slowly fights the virus off. Pepcid is usually administered when patients first enter the hospital along with other antibiotics. The studies have shown that Pepcid has been extremely successful toward the small amount of patients that it has been administered to. And more than sixty percent of the patients that Pepcid has been administered to have made a full recovery.
The drug is easy to buy over the counter as well as being able to be administered in the hospital settings. While the studies have shown success there are known side effects of Pepcid as there are with any drugs. Famotidine is known to cause constipation or diarrhea, dizziness, weakness, mood changes, headahces and insomnia. While there is a low chance of these side effects it is important for patients to know while they are taking Pepcid.
As of right now there is not much known exactly on how Pepcid works toward Covid-19. There has been a lot of information coming out showing that it is highly successful in treating a small amount of people with the virus. However more studies will need to be done to protect the health of the patient and their recovery. Our world still does not know the long term effects of the coronavirus, scientists are researching as we speak right now to learn further treatment options in the fight against it. It will take time to know whether nor not Pepcid is truly a good treatment option for the virus, but the knowledge that we have right now is that it is very hopeful for the future.