Hospitals around the world are full of Covid-19 patients these days. Most of those who die from corona are those whose immunity is weak. But it is not that others are not threatened by it. Many young people and healthy people, were also among those who died from the corona.
What is the reason for this?
Whenever a bacteria or virus enters our body, our immunity fights it and weakens and destroys it. Many times, this army of cells fighting the enemy or disease of our body becomes a rebel, and the fighter squad attacks the body cells that they have to protect. This counterattack causes your immunity to fall significantly.
What is a Cytokine Storm?
When our immune system becomes excessively active and starts harming our body instead of fighting diseases, it is called a ‘cytokine storm.’ A cytokine storm may be severe or life-threatening and lead to multiple organ failure called hypercytokinemia.
In this, immune cells accumulate near the lungs and attack the lungs. It also causes the blood veins to burst. Blood starts leaking from them and blood clots form. As a result, the blood pressure of the body decreases.
The delicate parts of the body like the heart, kidneys, lungs, and liver start to stop functioning, or we can say that they begin to relax. Patients can also go into a coma
Cytokine Storm can be controlled after examination and treatment
Whenever a cytokine storm occurs in the body, it also affects healthy cells. The red and white cells of the blood begin to die and damage the liver.
Experts say that during the cytokine storm, the patient has a high fever and headache. Many patients can also go into a coma. Such patients are sicker than we think.
The world has received information from doctors in Wuhan about cytokine storms occurring in Covid-19 patients. He researched 29 patients and found that they had symptoms of IL-2 and IL-6 cytokine storm.
Another research is done on 150 corona cases in Wuhan also revealed that the IL-6 CRP cytokine storm molecular indicators were higher among those who died from COVID. While those who survived were less in attendance.
In the US, too, outbreaks of cytokine storms have been seen in the patients of COVID.
Doctors say that in the patients of Covid-19, immune cells attack the lungs very quickly and so rapidly that they make a mark called fibrosis on the lungs. This is probably due to the activation of the virus.
This is not the first time that the relationship of cytokine storm is being linked to an epidemic. According to scientists, during the flu spread in 1918 and the SARS epidemic in 2003 (the cause of the SARS epidemic was also a member of the Coronavirus family), there were probably large-scale deaths due to this. And perhaps many patients died in H1N1 swine flu, due to their disease-resistant cells becoming rebellious.
Scientists believe that the death in pandemic flu is probably not due to the virus, but because it is highly active because of the patient’s body’s immune system. When the body’s immunity itself is imbalanced, then death is inevitable.
Cytokine Storm Treatment using Steroids
The immunity of the disease must be calmed to keep your immune cell from being out of control. Steroids are the first choice for cytokine storm treatment. But in the context of COVID, it is not clear whether steroids will be beneficial in this or not.
Several types of drugs are also available in the market to prevent certain types of cytokines.
Suppose steroids are bombs to fight cytokines, then other drugs are targeted missiles. These medicines are given to the patient so that the immune system remains intact, and the mess cells are eliminated.
For example, Anakinra (crenate) is a modified version of a natural human protein that inhibits receptors for cytokine IL-1. This rheumatoid is recognized by the US government for the treatment of arthritis.
Similarly, Tocilizumab (Actemra) can also prove beneficial in Covid-19.
It is also commonly used to control cytokine storms in patients with arthritis, joint pain, and immunotherapy.
In February, it was used on 21 COVID patients in China. In a few days, many symptoms of COVID had subsided. Within two weeks, 19 patients were sent home.
A variety of clinical research is being done on cytokine blockers for Covid-19. Research is also being conducted on Tocilizumab in Italy and China.
Tocilizumab has proven to be very effective in controlling cytokine storms in COVID patients. Doctors say that identifying the cytokine storm is a big thing in itself. It has often been seen that it comes and passes, but doctors do not understand it.
Final Words
Disease resistance protects us from diseases, but what should be done if this brings us to death. Of course, we have to stop this ability from being a rebel. Researchers are working in this direction.
