Opening the lungs to oxygen is like breathing at the end of a tunnel.

Why is there so much skepticism when a drug used ‘off label’ to treat COVID-19 appears to have some success? I watched a video recently with Dr. Richard Bartlett who has had success using Budesonide in a nebulizer machine to treat his COVID-19 patients. His success rate since March appears to be superior to all other research I have done.

I have found a few sources that do not want to accept his findings because the CDC has stated there is no known cure for COVID-19, therefore, Dr. Bartlett’s ‘cure’ claim is false. Or Dr. Bartlett is a surgeon and not pulmonologist and he is working outside his field of knowledge.

Budesonide is a corticosteroid that prevents inflammation in the lungs. It is used to treat asthma when inhaled and Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis when used in oral form. It can be found in Entocort, Uceris, Rhinocort, and other brands. The drug class is inhaled glucocorticoid.

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus came into our world in 2003. Steroid medicines have been used to treat respiratory illnesses. There has been some success treating COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom with dexamethasone, another glucocorticoid that decreases the body’s natural response to inflammation and allergic reactions.

The comparison COVID-19 treatment results in the UK with either Budesonide or Dexamethasone are nearly equal. Some physicians consider Dexamethasone to be life-saving when treating COVID-19 patients.

Many drugs are being evaluated ‘off label’ to determine the effectiveness of treating COVID-19. An off label means that a drug is approved for a specific treatment but not for other diseases. Budesonide is approved for asthma, but not for COVID-19.

The progression of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19 starts in the lungs and can cause a massive release of inflammatory cells called macrophages in the lung alveoli. Some steroids have been successful in preventing the progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Several inhaled corticoid steroids have been tested for efficacy against SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 viruses in the laboratory and in human studies with varying levels of success.

Dr. Bartlett claimed that several countries had low mortality rates using inhaled corticosteroids in early treatment for COVID-19 severe cases. The CDC acknowledges that the mortality numbers are low but cannot verify that inhaled corticoid steroids were the cause. Therefore, no scientific evidence exists to prove it and Budesonide’s claim for success is still false.

Does not the track record of Dr. Bartlett’s treating COVID-19 patients offer some evidence of success? Yes, it is not a clinical trial, randomized, placebo-controlled, etc. Hydroxychloroquine was a big success in treating COVID-19 early on. Then the FDA issued an interim approval for COVID-19. Then, weeks later, it was revoked. Recently a Henry Ford Health System study showed that hydroxychloroquine does reduce COVID-19 mortality by 50%.

Maybe the FDA does not want to walk out on another limb to find it cut off? I do not know. If a drug is working, why not support the use to truly verify its efficacy?

Is this current push to diminish the success of Budesonide similar to hydroxychloroquine? I do not know. The drug has been approved for a long time and is available, just like hydroxychloroquine. It might not be a silver bullet to treat COVID-19, but it might be a silver band-aid to reduce hospitalization time and reduce the daily death number attributed to COVID-19.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

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