This has been disputed:

"This speculation about the safety of ACE-i or ARB treatment in relation to COVID-19 does not have a sound scientific basis or evidence to support it. Indeed, there is evidence from studies in animals suggesting that these medications might be rather protective against serious lung complications in patients with COVID-19 infection, but to date there is no data in humans.

The Council on Hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology wish to highlight the lack of any evidence supporting harmful effect of ACE-I and ARB in the context of the pandemic COVID-19 outbreak.

The Council on Hypertension strongly recommend that physicians and patients should continue treatment with their usual anti-hypertensive therapy because there is no clinical or scientific evidence to suggest that treatment with ACEi or ARBs should be discontinued because of the Covid-19 infection. " [1]

There are also the brilliant MedCram updates, where the issue of ace inhibitors et. al just happened to be discussed yesterday. In it he describes the mechanics of ACE-i and ARB treatment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vZDVbqRhyM

[1] https://www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Hypertension-(C...

The GP was talking about NSAIDS and you're posting about blood pressure medicine. There are similarities, but still.

That is not actually a refutation.

Not a native speaker, but refutation to me translates to disputed… anyways edited for clarity.

To dispute something usually just means to disagree with it. Refutation generally implies positive evidence that a position is wrong.

Yeah, disputed is much better.

The Lancet article was not a study, it was a "correspondence," an educated guess from a researcher.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2...

I don't know if it's more responsible for the researchernto ouvlish their educated guess immediately - it's perhaps more likely than not to be right based on their expertise and they truley believe it's a really issue and might feel obligated to talk about it. Or, if it's more responsible to do the work first and get some preliminary evidence. Those few days during the pandemic could be crucial for rapid response, and if there's a strong rationale for it maybe it's worth communicating, but this isn't like "it can spread in xyz manner" that really changes behavior - you still be have to do social distancing whether or not Advil makes you more susceptible -is the panic that your painkiller will give you the coronavirus worth it?

Not familiar with afrinik, but this has been reported in The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/health-experts...

Not only anti inflammatory drugs but also ACE inhibitors used to treat hypertension.