Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2004
ReviewNesiritide for the treatment of congestive heart failure.
Nesiritide (Natrecor) is a recombinant form of the human B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) that has been shown, through several studies, to have beneficial natriuretic, diuretic and vasodilatory effects in the treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF). Nesiritide mimics the actions of endogenous BNP by binding to and stimulating receptors in the heart, kidney and vasculature. ⋯ The major adverse effect of nesiritide, as with other vasodilators, is symptomatic hypotension, which occurred infrequently in clinical trials. Overall, nesiritide represents an effective and safe therapeutic option for the treatment of decompensated CHF.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2004
XI Congress of the International Headache Society. September 13-16, 2003, Rome, Italy.
The XI Congress of the International Headache Society (IHC) provided useful feedback for a wide range of disciplines for all scientists involved in basic and applied research concerning headaches. The major topics of the Congress included comorbidity, paediatric headache, phenotypic markers, genetics, migraine therapy, trigeminal neuralgia and paroxysmal facial pain with autonomic signs. The most recent advances were presented and discussed and all efforts were made to transfer these new understandings of pathogenesis, clinical features and treatments, to clinical practice, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of patient problems and requests. ⋯ New rules separate primary and secondary headaches and a new chapter now presents headaches attributed to psychiatric disorders. Headaches due to disturbance of homeostasis has been brought together in a new chapter and the diagnostic criteria for secondary headaches are now more systematically constructed. All these changes will hopefully promote research, especially for the novel entities reported in the appendix, which have not been sufficiently validated or for which sufficient evidence still has not been published.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Apr 2004
Selected highlights from the 26th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. December 3-6, 2003, San Antonio, TX, USA.
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is one of the largest international meetings devoted solely to breast cancer research. Basic scientists, translational researchers, clinical investigators and physicians share state-of-the-art information on breast cancer covering almost all the aspects of breast cancer, including prevention, aetiology, diagnosis, molecular biology and treatment. The current report describes relevant therapeutic findings that were presented at the 26 th San Antonio Breast Cancer Conference, held in San Antonio, Texas, USA, in December 2003.
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Expert Opin Pharmacother · Mar 2004
ReviewManagement of herpes zoster (shingles) and postherpetic neuralgia.
Herpes zoster (HZ) results from recrudescence of varicella zoster virus latent since primary infection (varicella). The overall incidence of HZ is approximately 3/1000 of the population per year rising to 10/1000 per year by 80 years of age. Approximately 50% of individuals reaching 90 years of age will have had HZ. ⋯ Severe complications such as stroke, encephalitis and myelitis are relatively rare whereas sight threatening complications of ophthalmic HZ are more common. PHN is common, distressing and often intractable. Good management improves outcome.
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NSAIDs or cyclooxygenase inhibitors (COX inhibitors), including aspirin, are widely used to treat pain, fever and the articular symptoms of chronic rheumatic diseases. Manifestations of connective tissue or autoimmune diseases are commonly treated with glucocorticosteroids. The effect and side effects of NSAIDs depend on the isoforms of cyclooxygenases that they preferentially or selectively inhibit. ⋯ Therefore, the daily dose should be kept to