Could a herbal antiviral drug be the key to curing COVID-19? Scientists have just discovered a new herbal antiviral drug that appears to effectively treat coronavirus symptoms, giving one more tool to doctors treating patients.
Many doctors already advocate a plant-based diet for patients at high risk for severe symptoms or who have high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. These doctors urge their patients to adopt plants for their health and help them reduce inflammation and allow their immune systems to strengthen and become less vulnerable to the continued spread of coronavirus. It seems that many receive the rating among herbal meat sales and surveys have shown that 30% of older people eat more herbal to stay healthier.
It now appears that a new herbal drug is “highly effective” against coronavirus, as well as against the common cold, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza A virus. EruekaAlert.org Just reported, new research published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Viruses shows that researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK have found a new antiviral called thapsigargin, derived from the Thapsia plant, which is also could be used to control coronavirus symptoms as related viruses.
In his research, thapsigargin was found to trigger “a highly effective host-focused innate antiviral immune response against three major types of human respiratory viruses, including Covid-19,” according to the University of Washington press release. Nottingham via EurekAlert !. Encouragingly, if research is expanded and replicated in human studies (compared to animal and cell studies, as examined by the current corpus of research), this could translate into huge victories in our battle against coronavirus, as such an “antiviral may be available” for community use to control active infection and its spread. “
The study’s lead author, Professor Kin-Chow Chang, spoke beyond the researchers ’findings saying,“ Although we are still in the early stages of researching this antiviral and its impact on how viruses like COVID-19 can be treated, these findings are hugely significant. ” Beyond the coronavirus, the implications of this discovery could help in other scenarios: “The current pandemic highlights the need for antiviral drugs to treat active infections, as well as vaccines, to prevent infection,” he said.
Given that future pandemics are likely to be of animal origin, where animal-to-human (zoonotic) and reverse-zoonotic (human-to-animal) spread, a new generation of antivirals, such as thapsigargine , could play a key role in the control and treatment of important viral infections in both humans and animals. “(That is, since reports have linked the new coronavirus outbreak to bats, their findings could also be applied to the source of future pandemics and not just humans).
Again future research is needed to support the hypothesis of these scientists, but the preliminary findings are certainly promising. As Chang sums it up: “While more evidence is clearly needed, current findings strongly indicate that thapsigargine and its derivatives are promising antiviral treatments against COVID-19 and the influenza virus and have the potential to defend against the impending pandemic of disease X “.
After almost a year of life in the midst of the current coronavirus pandemic, we will take any step in the right direction towards preventing any pandemic of X, Y and Z diseases of the future.