Russian scientists have found an error in a common method of treating coronavirus

Using blood thinners can lead to complications of the disease

Many of us have had COVID-19. Those who have gone through this journey in full and reached the hospital remember the daily injections in the stomach with heparin –  to thin the blood. It turned out that they were the ones who could play a cruel joke on some patients – lead to complications of the disease. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the National Medical Research Center for Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology. Dm. Rogachev under the leadership of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Fazoil Ataullakhanov. The results of the work of physiologists, immunologists and doctors who conducted research in 12 Russian clinics were published in the international journal .     

Photo: AGN «Moscow»

 Comment  We asked the Deputy Academician-Secretary of the Department of Physiological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Section of Physiology, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Ostrovsky to do the work.

— Let's start from the very beginning of the “Covid” pandemic. stories. When the pandemic first began, its symptoms seemed like it was just a type of pneumonia. However, it quickly became clear that this was not entirely true. It turned out that the disease can occur in a mild or severe scenario. Intermediate options were rare. Easy scenario – it is like a small cold. The severe scenario usually involves blood. And then it happened that many doctors, both here and abroad, took the wrong path in treating the severe variant of COVID-19.

– Yes it is. In patients, the virus primarily affects blood vessel cells. The body immediately begins to correct these damages by forming blood clots in the damaged areas of the vessels. This is a normal reaction of the body. A thrombus, like a plug, temporarily closes the damaged area, allowing other cells to restore the vessel walls. During this “repair”, which is 2-3 days, some vessels are blocked, blood flow is stopped. But then the oxygen supply to healthy cells deteriorates. And this prevents the immune system from fighting the virus.

A vicious circle arises. Lack of oxygen weakens the body, which, in turn, increases the virus’s damage to blood vessels and their closure. And then the patient, at best, ends up in intensive care. If the immune system turns out to be strong enough, like in young people, – the person recovers. What if the immune system is not so strong?

– It seemed logical to break the vicious circle in this way, and the global medical community quickly came to treat COVID-19 with anticoagulants. But they missed the fact that together with the “plugs” — blood clots, the blood loses its coagulability! Then there is a real danger of internal bleeding. And this is life-threatening. 

– Based on a clinical study, scientists came to the conclusion that severe patients often need not to increase, but rather reduce the dose of heparin, and sometimes even abandon it altogether. It all depends on the patient. The academician’s team managed to select tests that made it possible for seriously ill patients to personally select the dose of heparin, – find a middle ground in order to “treat” the vessels and prevent bleeding. Such personal selection has already saved the lives of many, many people who suffered from COVID in the “severe scenario.”