Question 1: Is it safe to continue taking ACE inhibitors?

Answer: On March 17, 2020, the American Heart Association, the Heart Failure Society of America, and the American College of Cardiology put out a joint statement advocating for patients to continue ACEIs and ARBs as prescribed and that changes in medications in the setting of COVID-19 should be completed only after careful assessment.

Click here for the detailed information that was published in JAMA on March 24^th, 2020.

Question 2: Is it safe to take ibuprofen if I think I have COVID-19?

Answer: The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on March 18, 2020, “Based on currently available information, WHO does not recommend against the use of ibuprofen.”

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in a statement that more research is needed, but there currently is “no evidence that ibuprofen increases the risk of serious complications or of acquiring the virus that causes COVID-19.”

Dr. Larry William Chang, associate professor of medicine, epidemiology and international health at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine stated that if you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19, “Talk with your healthcare provider about the overall medical situation. For example, if you’re elderly and have chronic kidney disease, then you probably do want to avoid ibuprofen. If you have cirrhosis of the liver for example, you might want to avoid acetaminophen. It needs to be tailored to each individual.”