there’s now more evidence that people taking a generic anti-depressant are less likely to die from covid, for reasons experts still don’t totally understand.
a study from the university of california, san francisco
looked at people with covid from 87 healthcare centres, from all over the u.s. of the 83,584 patients they examined, 3401 were prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ssris), a specific class of anti-depressants.
they found that people on ssri, on average, were eight per cent less likely to die than people of similar age, sex, race, ethnicity and comorbidities who were not on ssris. looking at specific drugs, though, yielded more dramatic results. people taking either fluoxetine (the generic version of prozac) or fluvoxamine (the generic version of luvox) were 26 per cent less likely to die. death among people taking fluoxetine alone was 28 per cent less likely.
“we can’t tell if the drugs are causing these effects, but the statistical analysis is showing significant association,” dr. marina sirota, associate professor of pediatrics at uc san francisco
told the school’s news outlet
. “there’s power in the numbers.”
the study, which was published in the
journal of the american medical association
, suggests “that ssri use may reduce mortality among patients with covid-19,” although it specifies that further research is needed to confirm that theory.