Jerome Marot
Well-known member
This is a repost, but it may be important.
The majority of people infected with COVID-19 only have mild symptoms. Unfortunately, a minority evolves towards severe lung problems after about 10 days. The question thus arises why some people react differently. You may have read it is only old age. That is not quite true. While the elderly are indeed at a higher risk, some quite young people also develop respiratory failure.
Suspected are of course anything that acts detrimentally to the lungs: air pollution, smoking and even vaping.
More puzzling is a comorbidity with diabetes and high blood pressure. What does this have to do with the lungs? The explanation may be related to that study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8/fulltext
In short: there is a whole class of medicines called ACE inhibitors. They are used to mitigate diabetes and high blood pressure. They work by acting on an enzyme called ACE, they lower it. Your body then upregulates a second enzyme, called ACE2 (I am sorry, I am not making these names). Unfortunately, COVID-19 binds to their target human cells with ACE2. It follows that the medicine agains high blood pressure and diabetes is making it easier for the virus to kill its host.
Common ACE inhibitors include benazepril, zofenopril, perindopril, trandolapril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, and ramipril. Furthermore, ACE2 can also be increased by thiazolidinediones and ibuprofen. People taking any of these drugs should ask their doctor for an alternative treatment. It is not worth taking a risk, there are several alternatives available.
Generally speaking, people taking medications on a regular basis should check what the active ingredients are and inquire whether there is a comorbidity with coronaviruses. It may not be only that class of product that is concerned.
The majority of people infected with COVID-19 only have mild symptoms. Unfortunately, a minority evolves towards severe lung problems after about 10 days. The question thus arises why some people react differently. You may have read it is only old age. That is not quite true. While the elderly are indeed at a higher risk, some quite young people also develop respiratory failure.
Suspected are of course anything that acts detrimentally to the lungs: air pollution, smoking and even vaping.
More puzzling is a comorbidity with diabetes and high blood pressure. What does this have to do with the lungs? The explanation may be related to that study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8/fulltext
In short: there is a whole class of medicines called ACE inhibitors. They are used to mitigate diabetes and high blood pressure. They work by acting on an enzyme called ACE, they lower it. Your body then upregulates a second enzyme, called ACE2 (I am sorry, I am not making these names). Unfortunately, COVID-19 binds to their target human cells with ACE2. It follows that the medicine agains high blood pressure and diabetes is making it easier for the virus to kill its host.
Common ACE inhibitors include benazepril, zofenopril, perindopril, trandolapril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, and ramipril. Furthermore, ACE2 can also be increased by thiazolidinediones and ibuprofen. People taking any of these drugs should ask their doctor for an alternative treatment. It is not worth taking a risk, there are several alternatives available.
Generally speaking, people taking medications on a regular basis should check what the active ingredients are and inquire whether there is a comorbidity with coronaviruses. It may not be only that class of product that is concerned.