As the search for a vaccine to treat 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, doctors are investigating other types of approved medications to treat some of the symptoms people experience. The latest drug being tested: colchicine. 

Binita Shah, MD, an interventional cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone, is co-leading the clinical trial named COLCORONA. The trial will determine whether colchicine, a common anti-inflammatory medication, can help decrease the progression of disease in people with COVID-19. 

Emlyn Nobleza-Nyborg and her husband, John Nyborg, volunteered to participate in the trial after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in April. The trail is double-blind so the participants don’t know if they have received the drug or a placebo, but both say they feel better. 

“It feels like my lungs are clearer,” Emlyn says. “And you can take a deep breath, almost like you have three lungs. And that’s the difference,” John says.

The COLCORONA trial is still looking for volunteers. It’s a free, at-home, no-contact trial, open to people who have COVID-19 symptoms but are not sick enough to be hospitalized. 

Learn more from Dr. Shah on CBS New York.