Flomax & COVID-19 Survival: Tamsulosin... - Advanced Prostate...

Advanced Prostate Cancer

21,023 members26,203 posts

Flomax & COVID-19 Survival

pjoshea13 profile image
1 Reply

Tamsulosin [Flomax] "is a medication used to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and chronic prostatitis and to help with the passage of kidney stones." [1]

"Tamsulosin is a selective α1 receptor [2] antagonist that has preferential selectivity for the α1A receptor in the prostate versus the α1B receptor in the blood vessels."

Joshua T. Vogelstein [Johns Hopkins] "and his colleagues have been trying to identify patterns among people who have survived cytokine storms and people who haven’t. One correlation the team noticed was that people taking the drug tamsulosin (sold as Flomax, to treat urinary retention) seemed to fare well. Vogelstein is unsure why. Cytokine storms do trigger the release of hormones such as dopamine and adrenaline, which tamsulosin can partially block. The team is launching a clinical trial to see if the approach is of any help." [3]

"A retrospective clinical study supporting the rationale for trials of Alpha-1 Adrenoreceptor Antagonists to prevent cytokine storm and severe COVID-19" [4]:

⍺1-AR antagonists "doxazosin, prazosin, silodosin, terazosin, or tamsulosin"

"The first cohort consisted of patients admitted with pneumonia, identified by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) pneumonia category, which includes multiple codes from the ICD-9, respectively (Figure 1B). Of the 108,956 subjects in this cohort, 5,498 patients (5.0%) were taking ⍺ 1- AR antagonists. Overall, 8.9% of all patients received invasive mechanical ventilation and 2.1% both were ventilated and died in the hospital. We found that patients with prior use of ⍺ 1- AR antagonists had 12.9% lower incidence of invasive mechanical ventilation compared to non-users (OR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.95, p = 0.002; AOR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.75-0.92, p < 0.001). Further, those patients had a 16.0% lower incidence of both being ventilated and dying in the hospital (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.68-1.02, p = 0.044; AOR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.62-0.94, p = 0.007). By contrast, prior use of beta-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) antagonists was not correlated with either outcome in this cohort, with or without adjustment.

"The second cohort consisted of patients identified with International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 code 518.82 (which encompasses acute respiratory failure including ARDS) (Figure 1C). Of the 13,125 patients in this cohort, 655 (5.0%) had prior use of ⍺ 1- AR antagonists. Overall, 15.9% of all patients received invasive mechanical ventilation and 3.7% both were ventilated and died in the hospital. We found that patients with prior use of ⍺ 1- AR antagonists had 22.2% lower incidence of invasive mechanical ventilation compared to non-users (OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.59-0.94, p = 0.008; AOR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.59-0.95, p = 0.009). Perhaps more importantly, those patients had a 36.0% lower incidence of both being ventilated and dying in the hospital (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.37-1.01, p = 0.037; AOR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.34-0.95, p = 0.021). By contrast, prior use of β-AR antagonists was not correlated with either outcome in this cohort."

-Patrick

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamsu...

[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha...

[3] theatlantic.com/health/arch...

[4] arxiv.org/pdf/2004.10117.pdf

Written by
pjoshea13 profile image
pjoshea13
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
1 Reply

That's good to know if I ever come down with this Wu Flu. I know that I have no problem tolerating tamsulosin and might still have some in my medicine cabinet from my BPH days.

You may also like...

Immunotheraphy and Covid-19?

Chemotherapy Covid 19

chemo (docetaxel) it was 1.7. Hopefully it is now lower after his 4th session but he hasn't had the...

Covid-19 questions.

scared to go there now with potential Covid 19 patients testing there. Any good suggestions on safe...

A positive Covid-19 story

Get that third COVID-19 Vaccine!

told them I was immunocompromised with metastatic prostate cancer, and I was given the shot. No...