Trump on Dexamethasone Therapy, Is His Real Condition Being Hidden?

(Patria) - Doctors have started US President Donald Trump on dexamethasone therapy.

The US President was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus on Friday, and within 24 hours he was hospitalized at the Walter Reed military hospital. As Trump developed symptoms of fever, fatigue, and difficulty breathing shortly after contracting the virus, doctors began his treatment. First, he was given a cocktail of antibodies, then Remdesivir, and today doctors revealed he also received the first dose of dexamethasone.

What is dexamethasone?

Dexamethasone is an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid, it is cheap and widely available.

According to the results of the University of Oxford's Recovery study, dexamethasone does not help those with mild symptoms of COVID-19, i.e., those who do not need breathing assistance. It was only effective in patients who needed oxygen and even more so in those on ventilators. Trump had low saturation, and although the White House emphasized that the president was feeling well, he himself said in a video message from the hospital that the next few days would be crucial for his recovery. Sources from the White House claim that Trump received oxygen before being taken to the hospital. Given that he is 74 years old and overweight, he is in a high-risk group.

Dexamethasone reduced mortality in patients on ventilators by one-third, and in those on oxygen by one-fifth.

Patients who did not need breathing assistance showed no proven benefit from the drug.

Based on these results, the study authors concluded that dexamethasone could prevent one in eight deaths in patients on ventilators and one in twenty-five in those receiving oxygen.

"This is so far the only drug that has been shown to significantly reduce mortality. It's a big step forward," commented Oxford University epidemiologist Peter Horby on the study results in June.