Until now, there is no specific treatment that has been proven to be able to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts all over the world are doing research together to find which treatment is best for dealing with the disease. Not long ago, the malaria drug, Chloroquine, was known to help stop coronavirus infection in the body. But unfortunately, the drug has negative side effects. There are cases where some people experience serious heartbeat problems due to Chloroquine.

Apart from Chloroquine, the drug Remdesivir has also been used to help treat COVID-19. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug developed by a biotechnology company, Gilead Sciences, in the United States. Researchers have conducted clinical trials for the drug on COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Results showed that the drug could help accelerate the recovery of patients. However, it runs out that researchers recently found that seaweed extract can also be used to treat this disease.

Similar to other viruses, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 replicates itself by attaching itself to host cells. In this way, the number of viruses will increase and spread throughout the body. In contrast to Remdesivir, seaweed extract contain heparin and fucoidans, which can inhibit the effectiveness of the virus. In the study, researchers analysed three types of heparin and two types of fucoidans (substances obtained from brown seaweed) in suppressing the number of COVID-19 viruses in mammalian cells.

The results showed that seaweed extract is more effective in inhibiting the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 when compared to Remdesivir. In fact, the success rate of the seaweed extract reaches 50%. In addition, it was found in the study that their use in high doses did not indicate cellular toxicity. In other words, seaweed extract is safe for consumption.

Text by Anggie Triana
Stock photos from Google Search Images

Source(s):

• Medical News Today - COVID-19: Seaweed extract may be more effective than remdesivir (2020). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-seaweed-extract-may-be-more-effective-than-remdesivir, 3 August 2020.