A randomized open-label clinical trial on the effect of Amantadine on post Covid 19 fatigue
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-51904-z
> The intervention group received Amantadine for two weeks, while the control group received no treatment. Fatigue levels were assessed using the Visual Analog Fatigue Scale (VAFS) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) questionnaires before and after the trial. At the study's onset, VAFS mean scores were 7.90 ± 0.60 in the intervention group and 7.34 ± 0.58 in the control group (P-value = 0.087). After two weeks, intervention group scores dropped to 3.37 ± 0.44, significantly lower than the control group's 5.97 ± 0.29 (P-value < 0.001). Similarly, FSS mean scores at the trial's commencement were 53.10 ± 5.96 in the intervention group and 50.38 ± 4.88 in the control group (P-value = 0.053). At the trial's end, intervention group scores decreased to 28.40 ± 2.42, markedly lower than the control group's 42.59 ± 1.50 (P-value < 0.001). In this study, we report the safety, tolerability, and substantial fatigue-relieving effects of Amantadine in post-COVID-19 fatigue. The intervention demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in fatigue levels, suggesting Amantadine's potential as an effective treatment for this persistent condition.
A randomized open-label clinical trial on the effect of Amantadine on post Covid 19 fatigue
Interesting that the authors seem to assume this is due to brain effects of amantidine rather than antiviral effects. Maybe it doesn't work on coronaviruses, I don't know
A randomized open-label clinical trial on the effect of Amantadine on post Covid 19 fatigue
@NilaJones @trendless @longcovid
Interesting study. Some notes:
-Only 31 patients in each arm
-No placebo control
-No objective measures of fatigue. (Self- reporting of fatigue can be unreliable - this will be influenced by a 'placebo effect' in the intervention group)
-Longer term follow-up might have been useful to see if the effect is maintained.
-The control arm had a higher BMI so might be expected to recover more slowly to begin with.
-A patient who couldn't tolerate amantadine was excluded. (It might have been better to keep them in the analysis - to show 'real life' results.
Note:
'COVID-related fatigue' in this study refers to fatigue 30-60 days post infection (so a bit different from long COVID).
Amantadine was previously tried in ME/CFS. Of 30 patients, half couldn't tolerate an 8 week course. In the remaining 15, there was no difference in symptoms.
