The John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) reports that a JABSOM researcher worked with colleagues in Wuhan, China, and determined that a sleep aid helped COVID-19 victims do better.   This is one of several studies in which JABSOM researchers are participating.

Twenty researchers in teams led by JABSOM’s Dr. Youping Deng, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (pictured in the photo) and Dr. Ling Hu of Tianyou Hospital reviewed the charts of 323 hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted from January 8, 2020, through February 20, 20202.

The JABSOM release notes that of the 323 patients, 82 (25%) were prescribed Zopiclone, a type of sleeping pill that can be taken to treat bad bouts of insomnia. It helps you fall asleep more quickly, and also helps stop you waking up during the night.  Of the 82, 77 had better outcomes and were discharged.  Five patients receiving the drug had unfavorable outcomes, one of whom died.

In their report, the teams noted that the patients usually showed strong anxiety, sleep deficiency, and oxygen insufficiency with disease progression. These findings suggest that better sleep quality and stress reduction may enhance the immune system.

The study was published on March 25, 2020, in MedRxiv: (https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.25.20037721).