Is Ivabradine a Possible Treatment for a Heart-Related COVID-19 Symptom?
18 Feb 2021
Despite COVID-19 being just a month-long battle for people without pre-existing comorbidities, it comes with a different set of conditions that may affect these patients even post-COVID. These are known as 'long-haulers', which are the lasting effects of COVID that researchers are still trying to fully understand.
One of these conditions is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
Currently, research is still ongoing with regards to the link between COVID and POTS. However, this increasing number of cases and the unfamiliarity of COVID's long-lasting effects leave a lot more for the researchers to unmask.
POTS affects heart rate and blood pressure, which fall under the functions of the involuntary nervous system. The most notable characteristic of this condition is the rapid increase in heart rate of patients when trying to accomplish simple tasks such as standing up from a sitting or reclining position, and even when taking the stairs. Some patients even report having heart rates feel like they were running a marathon just from standing up from the toilet.
Other sources also note that having pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and any other autoimmune disease may increase the risk of long-haulers such as POTS after contracting COVID.
Recently, a group of researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine studied the effects of ivabradine on POTS patients. This drug works by managing the electrical activity of the heart to lower the patient's heart rate.
Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the authors measured factors such as the heart rate, quality of life and norepinephrine levels in the plasma, which is a stress hormone and a neurotransmitter. In the blood plasma, norepinephrine is usually observed as an indication of the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
The study, which was conducted from 2018 to 2020, shows that for the 22 individuals, there was a marked decrease in heart rate, an improvement in the quality of life for the month following the intake of ivabradine. More so, the drug also does not show any negative impact on the patients' blood pressure, and there were no observed side effects.
The authors note that this study is the first one to observe the effects of ivabradine on POTS patients and a lot more needs to be researched before ivabradine can be confirmed as a treatment option. Still, this possible new treatment gives hope to patients with heart problems as well as post-COVID patients who are experiencing POTS.
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