Annabelle Krause
AP Bio/Current Event 12
2/2/21
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
In the article, The antidepressant fluvoxamine could keep mild COVID-19 from worsening, the author, Esther Landhuis presents the evidence from studies and preliminary clinical trials that suggest that fluvoxamine could help control COVID-19 symptoms. This study was conducted in Berkeley, California, where a group of people affected by a COVID-19 outbreak opted to take the drug to test if it would mitigate their symptoms. The results were astounding and quite promising; “[o]f those who opted to take fluvoxamine, none got sicker, and within two weeks, their symptoms cleared. In comparison, 12.5 percent of those who turned down the drug wound up hospitalized” (Landhuis). Although this was a relatively small and narrow (possible environmental biases could have existed in this particular test), it is certainly promising enough to warrant ongoing verification and research from larger clinical trials. The Fluvoxamine currently costs approximately $10, making it quite accessible compared to other, more costly treatments. A physician, David Seftel, and an infectious disease physician-scientist, David Boulware, tested fluvoxamine during an outbreak around Thanksgiving. They had heard about it from a presentation by COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund, which supports research to identify existing drugs that could be used to treat COVID-19. In this presentation, the results from a fund-support trial were shared. In their trial, they observed that of the 80 COVID-19 placed patients on a two-week fluvoxamine course, none fell seriously ill, compared to 6 of 72 patients (8.3%) who took a placebo pill. Beyond clinical trials, Seftel sought to investigate the biochemistry behind the drug that would support the trial’s hypothesis that fluvoxamine helped with COVID-19 recovery. He found that the drug “activate[s] a protein called the sigma-1 receptor that prevents production of chemical messengers that exacerbate inflammatory reaction” (Landhuis). Research had already proven that this sigma-1 receptor response lowered infection rates with COVID-19 by “squelch[ing out] out-of-control immune activity and prevent[ing] blood clots” (Landhuis). Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are testing fluvoxamine in a larger, nationwide trial with a more random sample. The goal is to collect data from 880 people. Overall, the article concludes that fluvoxamine, though not necessarily proven to help, likely does and can be used in individual cases prior to its confirmation as a treatment in order to help patients at risk of bad symptoms and outcomes.
This article is extremely relevant right now, especially to Westchester, as we experience a spike in COVID-19 cases. It is important for us as citizens to stay informed about treatments and appraised on their viability. Our lives have been irrevocably impacted by COVID-19 for the last eleven months, and any treatment that may help ease symptoms and prevent further deaths are very important for the greater societal good. If COVID-19 was significantly less likely to end in death or terrible symptoms with long lasting side effects, it would be a much less scary sickness. Although somewhat unlikely, discoveries like that of fluvoxamine on COVID-19 symptoms could help the United States and other countries to open up quicker than waiting for everyone to receive both doses of the vaccine.
This article was quite easy to understand and succinct in explaining the science. I appreciated that they explained complicated concepts, like the biochemical justification for fluvoxamine use as a mitigator of COVID-19 symptoms, in simple terms that made it possible for this very important issue to be generally understood. I personally would have appreciated it if the author had given more of their own commentary on the relevance of these findings and the trials rather than leaving it for the reader to reason out. I understand that there really is no conclusion to be drawn as of yet, so it may be difficult for the author to extrapolate, but it would have been more clear and had a stronger message if the author had done so. It also would have been interesting for the author to investigate how the affordability of fluvoxamine could be relevant to making COVID-19 treatments more readily available and accessible. Overall, it was a very interesting piece that explained a complicated idea very well.
Erin Foley
ReplyDeleteAP Bio C Odd
Feb. 3rd, 2020
Current Event 12
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
Krause, Annabelle. The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening, Bronxville AP Biology, 1 Feb. 2021, https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2021/02/.
Annabelle’s review of Landhuis’ “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening” describes a complex topic in a concise and clear manner. She describes not only the findings of the experiment, that an antidepressant could prevent COVID from worsening, but also the way the experiment was conducted. Before explaining the results and their implications, she states that “[t]his study was conducted in Berkeley, California, where a group of people affected by a COVID-19 outbreak opted to take the drug to test if it would mitigate their symptoms”, providing good context for the rest of the paragraph. Moreover, her explanation of why fluvoxamine has this effect on COVID patients is brief yet informative, as she says that the drug “activate[s] a protein called the sigma-1 receptor that prevents production of chemical messengers that exacerbate inflammatory reaction”. Although not wordy, this explanation clears up any questions I had as it describes how sigma-1 is activated and then inhibits the production of harmful chemical messengers, a concept which, in conjunction with our Cellular Energetics Unit, makes perfect sense to me. Finally, Annabelle’s review does a great job of describing the implications of these findings on not only a global level, but also a personal level for Bronxville students. She reminds the reader how “Westchester… [is experiencing] a spike in COVID-19 cases” and urges citizens to “stay informed about treatments”. Annabelle’s review is easy to understand for not only biology students but any common reader, a result of her careful and concise descriptions.
If Annabelle were to revise her very well-written review, there are a few ways that it could be improved. Firstly, it might be easier for readers to understand why fluvoxamine was chosen by scientists to attempt to treat COVID if they knew a bit of background on the drug. Many do not know how antidepressants work on a biological level, so if she added a brief explanation of how they can both activate and inhibit different compounds/processes, her description paragraph could become a bit clearer. Additionally, if Annabelle were to describe the implications of this new drug on an equity level - how available is fluvoxamine, and to what communities? This could add quite a nuanced aspect to her review, but it would also require additional research if this topic was not discussed in her article directly. These improvements are rather extraneous, I might add, and the success of her review is not contingent on any revisions at all.
When choosing which review to comment on, Annabelle’s topic jumped out at me, as COVID treatments are obviously a topic of interest to all. In reading it, I was happy to observe more closely how intense quantitative research is being conducted all around the world to find more treatments for COVID. She describes a COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund, which supports research to identify existing drugs that could be used to treat COVID; clinical trials conducted at Berkeley; and physician David Seftel’s research on the biochemistry of fluvoxamine. Hearing about the range of fields/professions devoting time to COVID research and the way scientists are working together to build on promising findings is inspiring to me as a scientist, but also as a human. It is clear to me now that biological research and understanding the very concepts I am currently studying in biology play a key role in one of the most important events of our century.
Holden D’Avico
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Bio
2/3/21
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
Krause, Annabelle. The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening, Bronxville AP Biology, 1 Feb. 2021, https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2021/02/.
Annabelle’s review of “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening,” was informational and well written. The first aspect of Annabelle’s review that was well presented is in the first paragraph where she presents the data from the clinical trial. Annabelle mentions that the results were “relatively small and narrow (possible environmental biases could have existed in this particular test), it is certainly promising enough to warrant ongoing verification and research from larger clinical trials,” (Krause 1). It was important for Annabelle to mention this small but often overlooked detail because it legitimizes her review as we see that she is a trustworthy writer and source of information. The second aspect that was well presented is when Annabelle describes the importance of this article and connects it to Westchester. Annabelle mentions that as citizens of Westchester, it is important to stay informed about possible treatments and general information regarding COVID-19, especially because Westchester has seen a significant increase in cases the past couple of months. The final aspect that was well presented occurs in the third paragraph where Annabelle explains that the original author of the article should’ve included his/her opinion on the significance of the findings instead of leaving it up to the reader. I agree that this would have benefited the reader because it is important to make a conclusion based on scientific value in order to give numbers real meaning.
My first suggestion is to include a comparison between the antidepressant mentioned and some other promising drug. The data presented is statistically significant (alpha>5%). However, it would’ve been nice if Annabelle did some research and compared this data to that of another promising drug that is used to combat COVID. This would allow the reader to judge how effective the antidepressant mentioned is better at combating COVID compared to other drugs. My second suggestion is to explain the quotes and citations more elaborately. Annabelle includes a lot of direct quotes in the first paragraph which is very helpful, however, some of the terminology is very advanced so it would be easier to understand if Annabelle explained the quotes in more general terminology.
One thing/fact I was impressed by is the effectiveness of an antidepressant to fight COVID-19. This is very exciting; any news of a drug to fight COVID-19 or a vaccine is extremely important because it will help the world recover more quickly from this pandemic. Also, the fact that an antidepressant, a drug that targets the brain and nervous system, helps with COVID-19 (a respiratory virus) is very surprising and opens up doors.
Julia Reich
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology C Even
2/4/21
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021,
www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
Link to Annabelle’s review
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
Annabelle’s review of “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild Covid-19 from Worsening,” was extremely informative, well written, and interesting. One aspect she did well was including statistics from reputable sources. For example, she included that, “the results were astounding and quite promising; ‘[o]f those who opted to take fluvoxamine, none got sicker, and within two weeks, their symptoms cleared. In comparison, 12.5 percent of those who turned down the drug wound up hospitalized.”’ These numbers help visualize to the reader exactly what is going on. A second aspect she did well, which ties in with the first, is she included a lot of information on clinical trials and the future of the antidepressant. She includes the work from, “A physician, David Seftel, and an infectious disease physician-scientist, David Boulware.” As a reader who is pretty unknown to the clinical trials and the whole science behind the antidepressants in general, it was helpful to have the thoughts of the two physicians. A third aspect well done was connecting the antidepressants viability to Bronxville. As Annabelle mentioned, our town, and Westchester as a whole, has had a large spike in cases recently, and smaller medicines that aren’t the Pfzier or Moderna may help in times of crisis. Overall, Annabelle’s article included sophisticated language and thought which proved to be impressive.
Though Annabelle’s article seems perfect, there are a couple aspects she could have improved one. For one, she did a review on a very scientifically complex topic, and I feel as though she could have defined more terms. These include but are not limited to placebo pill and sigma-1 receptor. Annabelle could easily fix this by including a small definition after her quotation or explanation. A second aspect she could fix is including the opinion of her author. She could fix this by doing further research and understanding the perspective of her author. Overall, however, her review was interesting and nearly flawless.
I chose to read Annabelle’s article was COVID-19 is clearly an important topic to be educated about. I didn’t know anything about the antidepressant Fluvoxamine and was intrigued to learn more about other medicines that could help lessen COVID-19 symptoms. I know the Biden Administration hopes to administer 300 million vaccines by the summer, but in the meantime, most Americans may have to resort to smaller options, like Fluvoxamine. Annabelle’s article was a great read and I feel obligated to do more research on my own.
Kelly Baclija
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Bio
February 3, 2020
Krause, Annabelle. Annabelle Krause - "The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.", 1 Jan. 1970, www.bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2021/02/annabelle-krause-antidepressant.html
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
Annabelle’s article on “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening” by Esther Landhuis is very well-written and captivating. She provided a very clear explanation of what results were gathered from the study which allows the audience to easily grasp the concept of the article; “[o]f those who opted to take fluvoxamine, none got sicker, and within two weeks, their symptoms cleared. In comparison, 12.5 percent of those who turned down the drug wound up hospitalized”. Later on, she relates the topic back to the idea of biology by stating that the drug “activate[s] a protein called the sigma-1 receptor that prevents production of chemical messengers that exacerbate inflammatory reaction”. This allows the audience to make a connection between our curriculum this year and the real world (especially the pandemic) and this ultimately increases the enthusiasm of reading the review. Finally, Annabelle also describes the steps that researchers are planning to take further following this study--”Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are testing fluvoxamine in a larger, nationwide trial with a more random sample. The goal is to collect data from 880 people.” This helps broaden the reader’s understanding of the topic and make this a more enjoyable read.
Although Annabelle’s piece has little flaws, there are a few areas of improvement. For example, it may have been beneficial for the audience if she provided some more information of the drug fluvoxamine, such as its general properties, what it is currently intended for use, etc., in order for them to fully understand the topic; instead, she states that it “...could help control COVID-19 symptoms” and subjects “opted to take the drug to test if it would mitigate their symptoms''. She mentioned in her review that “it would have been interesting for the author to investigate how the affordability of fluvoxamine could be relevant to making COVID-19 treeatments more readily available and accessible”, and if she included this information in her own, I believe that the reader would have gained a better comprehension of this topic once again.
I chose this article because I figured it would be especially important to know about any new findings in terms of the impacts of the pandemic and what can be done to improve our experiences. I ultimately learned that there could very well be certain medications that greatly help those who have Covid and prevent any more unnecessary deaths to occur. This will change my perception because I now understand that researchers are developing many important alternatives in the midst of a pandemic and while vaccines are slowly being given.
Hugh Duffy
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology C Even
2/4/21
Landhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021,
www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
I thought Annabelle’s review of this article was extremely well-written and informative. The aspect in which I think she excelled was including important data from the original article. I think including this data helped me understand the concepts in the original article, without actually having to read it. I also liked how she focused on the antidepressants specific properties which can inhibit the symptoms of Covid-19. Learning about these properties and their individual clinical trials was essential to my understanding of the concept. I thought her use of sophisticated language, as well as her linking between this trial and our situation in Bronxville was brilliant. It truly puts the severity of the issue into perspective.
I thought Annabelle’s was extremely well-written. The only downside would be my own ignorance to the field of pharmacology and clinical trials. There’s really no downside to her writing in particular, more so the topic being hard to grasp for those who aren’t familiar with the science or lack a foundational background in this field before reading.
I chose to read Annabelle’s review because of the title and how intriguing it was. The idea that a medication commonly used to treat ailments of the mind being repurposed to potentially treat infectious diseases like Covid-19 is outstanding. It also brings the question of the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine - which was curiously legalized for distribution once again - back into the public eye.
ReplyDeleteLandhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021,
www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
Link to Annabelle’s review
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
For my current event, I read a review by Annabelle on an article originally published in Science News, titled “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” First, Annabelle did an excellent job when writing her introduction because it immediately grabs the reader's attention by discussing the results of the clinical trials. “Of those who opted to take fluvoxamine, none got sicker, and within two weeks, their symptoms cleared. In comparison, 12.5 percent of those who turned down the drug wound up hospitalized.” This caught my attention and made me want to continue reading. Annabelle also did a good job explaining the importance of this finding. For example, “This article is extremely relevant right now, especially to Westchester, as we experience a spike in COVID-19 cases. It is important for us as citizens to stay informed about treatments and appraised on their viability. Our lives have been irrevocably impacted by COVID-19 for the last eleven months, and any treatment that may help ease symptoms and prevent further deaths are very important for the greater societal good. ” This quote is a key point in the article. Lastly, I appreciate how Annabelle was able to make a connection between the topic and the reader by clearly explaining the process of how fluvoxamine works.
Although her review was very well written, there are certain areas in which she could have improved. For example, she should have included more statistics of the trials because they allow the reader to understand the topic in greater depth. Secondly, defining certain scientific terms would strengthen her review.
Annabelle’s current event was very interesting to read and well written. Her current event has made me want to read more about solutions for other viruses and diseases.
Angelinna Faisca 2/3/21
ReplyDeleteLandhuis, Esther. “The Antidepressant Fluvoxamine Could Keep Mild COVID-19 from Worsening.” Science News, 1 Feb. 2021, www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-antidepressant-fluvoxamine-treatment.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com
In the review of Esther Landhuis’s article, Annabelle gives great information in how antidepressants helped people actually feel better from getting Covid-19 by giving quotes from the actual article, which helps in the legitimacy of the actual usefulness of the usage of the antidepressant on Covid-19. Including the price of the option, which is 10$, which she mentions is very accessible to people and affordable. She also put the opinion of another doctor, David Boulware, who gave more information that helped her review. I think she did a really good job in bringing out the trial information between the patient information, which helped a lot in understanding how much antidepressants actually prevent Covid from actually worsening. Overall though I thought she did a good job in how she presented the information and how she simplified it.
Her review was very well written so I just think that the information she presented could be too much for someone who doesn't know much about pharmacology and how those trials really work, so going into depth with that could help her review even be stronger than what it already is. Furthermore, she could also define some terms to give more context to the reader and help everything be pieced together so that her review actually gets to people.
I chose her article because this topic is very relevant to what is going on in today’s world. With all these cases rising, it gives hope to people suffering from Covid-19. It is also interesting how a drug used to calm the mind is being used as a treatment in this country’s biggest crisis. Overall, Annabelle’s review of this article was very informative and well written.