The trial of an ancient drug, colchicine, by a Greek medical team at Attikon Hospital in Athens, is proving effective in treatment for people suffering from COVID-19 and was of particular benefit to those showing severe symptoms.

The trial consisted of 105 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalised in April. Half of whom received colchicine as part of their treatment. The other half of the patients received antibiotics and antiretrovirals but were not given colchicine.

Attikon Hospital Cardiologist Dr Spyridon Deftereos said the results: “suggest a significant clinical benefit from colchicine in patients hospitalised with COVID-19”.

He noted that while the health of seven of 50 of the patients treated without colchicine had deteriorated to the point where they needed ventilators, just one patient in the group treated with the drug needed similar intervention.

Colchicine was first derived from the autumn crocus in 1500 BC. It was used for the treatment of rheumatism and swelling. It later times it became a popular remedy for gout for its pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties.

A group of US physicians said in a journal statement that the Greek study, although limited in size, had shown “that an old drug may still have new life.”

University of California cardiologist Dr Amir Rabbani said that the size of the study had been too small to offer a definitive statement on whether the drug could be used regularly to treat the symptoms of COVID-19.

The Americans noted however that the effects of colchicine on certain blood markers on the function of the heart suggested it had anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting properties that could limit damage wrought by COVID-19 on the patient’s cardiovascular system.

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Dr Rajiv Bahl a Florida doctor who has severe COVID-19 cases said of the Greek study that colchicine “has also been used to prevent heart conditions such as pericarditis and other inflammatory conditions affecting the body.”

He said the study, although too small, had shown promise and that “future studies need to be conducted before we can incorporate colchicine as an extensively used medication to help combat COVID-19″.

Since April a larger trial has been underway in the US and Canada which is testing the drug’s properties to keep high-risk COVID-19 patients from becoming so sick that they require hospital treatment

The trial in the US and Canada is aimed incorporating 6,000 COVID-19 patients aged over 69 who are most at risk of developing severe conditions affecting the heart and lungs.