NOSLongcovid patients demonstrate in the House of Representatives building for better care
NOS News•today, 06:53•Changed today, 09:49
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
Preparations have begun in the Netherlands for large-scale European research to test whether existing medicines can alleviate symptoms in long Covid patients. The researchers will first examine widely available and cheap medicines, such as a medicine for diabetes.
In addition to Dutch patients, British, Spanish and Italian patients will also be examined. The large size of the combined patient populations allows scientists to say more quickly with certainty whether or not a medicine works against complaints caused by long Covid.
At the moment, a cure for severe long Covid is not possible. An estimated 100,000 Dutch people have this serious chronic disease, which severely or even completely limits normal life. Patients are therefore already experimenting with medicines and treatments that are actually intended for other conditions.
“Sometimes you hear that it works and that some people partly recover from it,” says Marc Bonten, professor of molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases at UMC Utrecht. “But so far it has not been scientifically proven to what extent such a drug works or not. And the question is also whether it is safe. We want to answer those questions with this project.”
The research is coordinated by the research organization that Bonten heads: Ecraid, an institute with extensive experience in the field of international studies.
This project is one of the candidates to claim part of the 32 million euros that Minister Kuipers of Health has allocated specifically for research into long Covid in early 2024.
‘No time to lose’
Thanks to early financing by the Long Covid Foundation (founded by long Covid patients with the aim of accelerating research), two project managers can now start with time-consuming administrative preparations necessary for the research. As soon as research money is released from the government, clinical trials can start immediately.
“There is no more time to lose,” says chairman Ellen Bark-Lindhout. “Some patients have been at home for almost four years. So if the actual research can start four to six months earlier thanks to us, this is an important time saving for our supporters.”
The researchers will first examine widely available and cheap medicines. An example is metformin, a diabetes drug that has been around for fifty years. A recent study found that treatment with metformin reduced the development of long Covid by 40 percent.
The bigger the better
“We will start with medicines that we know are safe and easy to take at home,” says Bonten. “Then patients do not have to make the grueling journey to hospitals for the examination.”
Exactly the same research method must be used in the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
According to Bonten, this bundling of scientific forces is crucial. “The speed with which a study can provide a reliable answer depends on the number of participants in the study and the size of the demonstrated effect: the larger the effect, the easier it can be demonstrated.”
Minister Kuipers is “extremely happy” that the first steps for the investigation have been taken. “It is precisely by working together in Europe that you can make faster progress.” He emphasizes that the research will take time: “We have known long-term complaints after infectious diseases for a long time, even before Covid. It is extremely complex. And there is no simple solution for it.”
2023-12-08 05:53:21
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