U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration) Has caused concerns about ivermectin. According to reports, some people in the United States have used this antiparasitic drug for COVID-19 treatment, including this week’s podcast host Joe Rogan (Joe Rogan).
According to the FDA website, Ivermectin is a drug approved by the FDA to treat patients with intestinal strongyloidosis and onchocerciasis, which are caused by parasites.
On the animal side, it has been approved by the FDA to prevent heartworm disease in certain small animal species and treat certain parasites in different animal species.
Although the FDA has not approved its use for the treatment of COVID-19, federal agencies have received multiple reports of people being hospitalized after self-treatment with ivermectin for horses.
What is ivermectin?
Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of certain tropical diseases. It has not been approved by the FDA to treat any viral infections.
Ivermectin is used to treat strongyloidiasis. MedlinePlus, an online health information resource service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), explains that, also known as nematodes, strongyloidiasis is an infection in which roundworms enter the human body through the skin, move through the respiratory tract and live in the intestine. , It is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
According to MedlinePlus, ivermectin is also used to treat onchocerciasis (river blindness), an infection involving roundworms that can cause skin rashes, lumps under the skin, and vision problems, including vision loss or blindness.
MedlinePlus said the drug is sometimes used to treat certain other roundworm infections, head lice or pubic lice infections, and scabies, a skin disease caused by small mite infections that live under the skin.
Ivermectin side effects
People taking ivermectin may experience some of the following side effects, such as MedlinePlus:
- Dizziness
- Loss of appetite
- nausea
- Vomit
- Stomach pain or bloating
- diarrhea
- constipate
- weakness
- sleepy
- Uncontrollable shaking in a part of the body
- Chest discomfort
People taking ivermectin for onchocerciasis may experience the following additional side effects, such as MedlinePlus:
- Swelling of eyes, face, arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
- Joint pain and swelling
- Pain and swollen glands in the neck, armpits, or groin
- Heartbeat
- Eye pain, redness, or tears
- Swelling of the eyes or eyelids
- Eyes feel abnormal
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Why do people take ivermectin?
The FDA is concerned about the health of people who may self-treat with ivermectin drugs used in animals, assuming that they can replace ivermectin used in humans, MedlinePlus said.
After a research article described the effect of ivermectin on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 in a laboratory environment, there is interest in ivermectin as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients Increase.
MedlinePlus explained Antiviral Research Papers The ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.
Research paper reading“We report here that Ivermectin is an FDA-approved antiparasitic drug. It has previously shown broad-spectrum antiviral activity in vitro and is an inhibitor of the pathogenic virus (SARS-CoV-2)… Therefore, Ivermectin deserves further research to investigate its possible benefits to humans.”
Did Joe Rogan take ivermectin for Covid-19?
In the video post Instagram Shared Wednesday, Joe Logan, host Joe Logan experience Podcasts on Spotify, It was revealed that he was “infected with COVID-19.” He said he had been treating the infection himself by “throwing the kitchen sink”.
The drugs he used to treat COVID-19 included ivermectin, He revealed in an Instagram post.
Logan said in an Instagram video: “I felt very tired when I came back from the road on Saturday night.
“I have a headache, I just feel very tired. To be cautious, I was separated from my family and slept in different parts of the house. I had fever and sweat throughout the night and I knew what was going on.
“We immediately threw the kitchen sink over: all kinds of drugs. Monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, Z-pack, prednisone-everything,” Logan said in the video.
Logan had previously suggested that young, healthy people do not need to be vaccinated against COVID.
Evaluation of Ivermectin by FDA, CDC and NIH
According to the FDA website, the FDA has not reviewed the data to support the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients or prevent COVID-19, but “some preliminary studies are ongoing.”
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Also warned: “Please note that at present, ivermectin has not been proven to prevent or treat COVID-19.”
NIH also determined that there is insufficient data to recommend ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19.
The NIH website said: “There is insufficient evidence to show that the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Group (group) recommends or opposes the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
The National Institutes of Health said: “The results from sufficiently robust, well-designed, and well-executed clinical trials are needed to provide more specific, evidence-based guidance on the role of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.”
The FDA explained that given the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths, it is not surprising that some people may be looking for “unconventional treatments” for COVID-19 that have not been approved or authorized by the FDA.
“Although this is understandable, please pay attention,” the FDA warned. “Using drugs for unapproved purposes can be very dangerous. The same is true of ivermectin.
“There is a lot of misinformation around, and you may have heard that it is okay to take high doses of ivermectin. This is wrong,” the FDA said. “Even the approved levels of ivermectin can interact with other drugs, such as blood thinners.”
It is also possible to overdose ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (hypotension), allergic reactions (pruritus and hives), dizziness, ataxia (balance problems), seizures, coma and even death. FDA warning.
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