The year 2020 will be carved in the history books—with the proliferation of COVID-19 over the globe and with frontline health workers and basic scientists worldwide diligently fighting to alleviate life-threatening symptoms and curb the spread of the disease. Behind the shocking prevalence of death are countless families who lost loved ones. To these families and to humanity as a whole, the tallies are not irrelevant digits, but a motivation to develop effective strategies to save lives. However, at the onset of the pandemic, not many therapeutic choices were available besides supportive oxygen, anti-inflammatory dexamethasone, and antiviral remdesivir. Low-dose radiation (LDR), at a much lower dosage than applied in cancer treatment, re-emerged after a 75-year silence in its use in unresolved pneumonia, as a scientific interest with surprising effects in soothing the cytokine storm and other symptoms in severe COVID-19 patients. Here, we review the epidemiology, symptoms, immunological alterations, mutations, pharmaceuticals, and vaccine development of COVID-19, summarizing the history of X-ray irradiation in non-COVID diseases (especially pneumonia) and the currently registered clinical trials that apply LDR in treating COVID-19 patients. We discuss concerns, advantages, and disadvantages of LDR treatment and potential avenues that may provide empirical evidence supporting its potential use in defending against the pandemic.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, X-ray, Low-dose radiotherapy, 【초록키워드】 Dexamethasone, Treatment, Vaccine development, Cytokine storm, clinical trial, pandemic, health workers, Anti-inflammatory, Antiviral, Pneumonia, Epidemiology, motivation, mutations, Remdesivir, oxygen, cytokine, Symptom, Symptoms, Spread, Prevalence, low-dose, therapeutic, death, disease, cancer treatment, COVID-19 patients, Evidence, Disadvantages, health worker, disadvantage, proliferation, empirical evidence, Radiation, dosage, severe COVID-19 patients, life-threatening, Registered, Effective strategies, treating COVID-19 patients, immunological alterations, Effect, develop, globe, the disease, applied, alleviate, much lower, digits, effective strategy, the cytokine storm, 【제목키워드】 pharmaceutical,