Corticosteroids can help COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory distress
A meta-analysis found that patients who experienced severe cases of COVID-19 were about one third less likely to die if they received treatment with a corticosteroid. (Unsplash /)Three original papers published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) alongside an editorial represent an unprecedented international effort from the world’s medical community to synthesize reliable new knowledge about COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a pathogen that emerged eight months ago. The papers all examine whether steroids are a useful treatment for critically-ill COVID-19 patients, including those who have acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. The most notable is a meta-analysis of seven existing studies on the subject, sponsored by the World Health Organization. It found a clear signal that COVID-19 patients with ARDS who were treated with corticosteroids had a significantly better chance of surviving, in the short term at least, than those who did not.“These...