Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy
-
Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2006
ReviewGenital herpes: antiviral therapy for symptom relief and prevention of transmission.
The episodic and daily suppressive treatment of genital herpes is safe and effective with the currently available antiviral agents: acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir. Clinical strategies for the comprehensive management of genital herpes simplex virus infections are recommended. Data from recent clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of shorter duration of therapy for recurrences and the use of antivirals for the prevention of transmission are reviewed in this article. The factors influencing the choice of therapy, such as cost, ease of dosing and acyclovir resistance are also discussed.
-
Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2006
ReviewAdvances in the treatment for haematological malignancies.
Despite the progress made in the last decade in the treatment of haematological malignancies, most of the patients still have a dismal prognosis. However, the improved knowledge of tumour biology opened the possibility to develop new 'intelligent' therapeutic strategies, the so-named targeted therapies. ⋯ Finally, the authors focus on the application of imatinib mesylate in chronic myeloid leukaemia as the paradigm of molecular treatment. Although these novel therapies are beginning to fulfil their promise, continued research efforts are needed to determine the optimal role of these strategies in haemato-oncology.
-
Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2006
ReviewThe management of behavioural and psychiatric symptoms in delirium.
Delirium is a common and usually reversible syndrome occurring during a period of physical illness. It is most common in children and the elderly. ⋯ If behavioural and environmental interventions are ineffective, psychotropic medication may be needed. This paper reviews the drugs commonly used in the management of behavioural and psychiatric symptoms in delirium, and suggests the need for further trials.
-
Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2006
ReviewSativex: clinical efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of symptoms of multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain.
Sativex is one of the first cannabis-based medicines to undergo conventional clinical development and to be approved as a prescription medicine. It is an oromucosal spray that allows flexible, individualised dosing. Patients self titrate their overall dose and pattern of dosing according to their response to and tolerance of the medicine. ⋯ Positive results in placebo-controlled trials of the use of Sativex as an add-on therapy in these indications demonstrate that Sativex is efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of these symptoms. Sativex has been approved for use in neuropathic pain due to multiple sclerosis in Canada. If ongoing studies replicate the results already observed, further approvals for the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis and for neuropathic pain are likely.