Stop experimenting with medications, be more critical!

Published in El Pais, 20 de Junio 2020 and in Los Tiempos 22 June 2020.

All the time I receive messages that a certain medicament will cure you from COVID-19 or prevents you from getting it. Be very careful with this! All medications have side effects and can harm your body. Medications should only be consumed when needed, not preventively. Stop experimenting with your bodies because it is very likely that you are causing yourself a lot of damage. Also, think that if there was a treatment, if there was something that works to prevent you from getting it, the scientist who is working hard to find it will tell us.

I understand that people are desperate and do not want to get sick or die. But this is no reason to believe everything that reaches you through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. Many times, they are inventions that have no real basis and in other cases they are theories that have yet to be proven if they work. Right now, there are over 1,000 studies looking for treatments and other life-saving interventions like vaccines. Most of these studies are unlikely to yield anything useful. For example, hydroxychloroquine was very promising when COVID-19 started. Now, after several studies have shown that it does not show any benefit. Hopefully, they find something, but we must trust the scientists who investigate it.

Taking medications because someone says so, or if a doctor experienced it in a few patients and it worked, is neither proven nor approved research. First, you can cause damage to your body (kidneys, liver) and the result will be that hospitals will have to serve not only COVID-19 patients but also the self-inflicted or guinea pig who decided to put themselves at risk. Second, if you take a medication you do not need, someone who does need it may not be able to find it because they have already sold it to you. Every time when there is a new possible treatment, the pharmacies are emptied with the result that a large part of the medicines are rotting at home and have not been used where required. Before you experiment, take the time to research and read about the treatment. Is it a lie, is it true? Does it work or are they still investigating? Take your time before you get into trouble or share it with everyone, be more critical!

I know that many want something easy and simple like a tablet to prevent COVID-19. But for now, the best way to avoid catching it is to reduce contacts, stay home as much as possible, eat healthy and exercise.