David J Graham, Hector S Izurieta, Di Zhang, Armen Avagyan, Hai Lyu, Roger Wiederhorn, Yun Lu, Andrew D Mosholder, Elizabeth R Smith, Yueqin Zhao, Shanlai Shangguan, Huei-Ting Tsai, Dinci Pennap, Alexander T Sandhu, Michael Wernecke, Thomas E MaCurdy, Jeffrey A Kelman, Richard A Forshee
BACKGROUND: α-1 adrenergic receptor antagonists prevent cytokine storm in mouse sepsis models. This led to the hypothesis that α-1 blockers might prevent severe Covid-19, which is characterized by hypercytokinemia and progressive respiratory failure. METHODS: We performed an observational case-control study in male Medicare beneficiaries age ≥65 years, with or without benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and treated with α-1 receptor blockers or 5-α reductase inhibitors...
July 14, 2023: American Journal of Medicine