Nitric oxide – The Miracle Molecule. Labeled as a ‘molecule of the year’… Let’s learn more about it. Coronavirus is spreading around the world for more than a year. New COVID-19 variants are coming along, and morbidity & mortality constantly changing. Discovering a substance that can stop all of those, is definitely good news. We’re more than tired and exhausted of lockdowns and restrictions, so the only question is: could it be the big solution? Is this for real? 

The answer is YES, it cures and prevents COVID-19. There is no room for fake news and the time to take a breath of fresh air is coming soon . Meet the Nitric oxide – The Miracle Molecule.

Let us share some interesting historical facts with you first

Dr. Louis Ignarro is the founder of colorless gas, he won a Nobel Prize in 1998 for his amazing discovery of nitric oxide and its positive health impacts. It was successfully used on newborn babies, suffering from heart defects and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), also on adults. 

Labeled as a ‘molecule of the year’ in 1992, to avoid the confusion with nitrous oxide, so-called ‘laughing gas’.

Another coronavirus – SARS-COV-1 outbreak back in 2003, shows wide similarities with present SARS-COV-2. Patients with SARS-COV-1 were treated with NO back then. That so-called Miracle Molecule can safely decrease the inflammation and the destruction in the lungs of oxygen-starving patients with severe forms of pneumonia. Inhaled nitric oxide appears to stop the blood from clotting and dilate the arteries.

This might also be an advantage and a solution, especially when it comes to the possibility of a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and brain clots’. We all have heard about the side effects of getting the vaccine.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a naturally producing both antiviral and antibacterial compound that functions as a hormone in multiple organs of the human body. It acts as a vasodilator by making the blood better oxygenate and improving the gas exchange in the lungs. It activates the protein kinase G (PKG), which activates myosin phosphatase to release calcium ion stores from the smooth muscle cells, relaxing them.

A healthy person`s arterial oxygen partial pressure ratio has to be 400 mmHg. This means that patients with a lower level must receive extra oxygen through a nasal cannula or mask. The lipophilic molecule of inhaled NO is spreading across the pulmonary membranes of the infected cells.

It helps boost the blood-oxygen saturation level. The main goal is cutting down numbers of patients’ needs of respiratory breathing, they’re already in a short supply in some countries.

During the past year, multiple types of research have been made with COVID-19 patients, that was suffering from severe pneumonia. They were with inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). So far all results are quite promising. 

An international study was overseen by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) already took place in  Massachusetts, Alabama, Louisiana, Sweden, and Austria. They’ve been testing patients with mild to moderate cases of the coronavirus through a CPAP breathing machine of iNO for 20-30 minutes twice a day for two weeks.

MGH reviewed a second trial on health workers, exposed to coronavirus patients on a daily basis. All of them were using a high dose of iNO for 10 to 15 minutes at the start and end of every shift.

Uppsala University, Sweden and Karolinska Institute based their study on a discovery that took effect in 2003 SARS. They used NO released from S-Nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and its effect grew stronger, as they raised the dose.

Another study by clinicians at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust used iNO in 35 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia that was on ventilation and were failing to respond to the standard treatment. Oxygen levels improved, which led to increasing ventilatory efficiency at 24 hours and for up to five days.

The nitric oxide proved the benefits of using it through the years. There are no side effects, therefore it is safe for use.

While vaccine deliveries are under discussion, hospitals are struggling with COVID-19 patients in need of immediate oxygenation. iNO is the best treatment, found during the pandemic outbreak.

So far, nitric oxide is saving lives and it’s only a matter of time to be included as a most commonly used and available substance.