Drugs

Wiegratz, Inka; Kuhl, Herbert

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00006pmid: 15482002

The conventional regimen of oral contraceptive (OC) use mimics the natural cycles by causing regular withdrawal bleeding, which can be avoided by omission of the hormone-free interval of 7 days. Consequently, long-cycle regimens with continuous administration of OCs for 3 or 6 months followed by a hormone-free interval of 7 days may reduce the frequency of menstruations and cycle-dependent complaints. Surveys have revealed that, despite a higher rate of irregular bleeding, the majority of women prefer the long-cycle regimen to the conventional OC regimen with regular bleeds every 4 weeks because it may improve quality of life.

Rovner, Eric

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00005pmid: 15482001

Trospium chloride is an orally active, quaternary ammonium compound with antimuscarinic activity. It binds specifically and with high affinity to muscarinic receptors M1, M2 and M3, but not nicotinic, cholinergic receptors. It is hydrophilic and does not cross the normal blood-brain barrier in significant amounts and, therefore, has minimal central anticholinergic activity.

Kuchulakanti, Pramod; Waksman, Ron

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00001pmid: 15481997

The treatment of coronary artery disease has reached many milestones — from balloon angioplasty to drug-eluting stents. The last decade witnessed the revolution of bare metal stents with new designs, alloys and strut thicknesses. Yet restenosis, the aphorismic ‘Achilles heel’, remains to be conquered. The restenosis rates with balloon angioplasty alone are 30–40% and are reduced to 20–30% with stents. Although intravascular brachytherapy proved to be a durable and safely used technique to treat in-stent restenosis, clinical event rates were not reduced to single digits.

Schlesinger, Naomi

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00003pmid: 15481999

There are three stages in the management of gout: (i) treating the acute attack; (ii) lowering excess stores of uric acid to prevent flares of gouty arthritis and to prevent tissue deposition of urate; and (iii) providing prophylaxis to prevent acute flares. It is important to distinguish between therapy to reduce acute inflammation in acute gout and therapy to manage hyperuricaemia in patients with chronic gouty arthritis.

Dreno, Brigitte

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00002pmid: 15481998

Topical antibiotics and benzoyl peroxide, are the two main topical antibacterial treatments indicated for mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris. Topical antibiotics act both as antibacterial agents suppressing Propionibacterium acnes in the sebaceous follicle and as anti-inflammatory agents. Benzoyl peroxide is a powerful antimicrobial agent that rapidly destroys both bacterial organisms and yeasts. Topical clindamycin and erythromycin have been proven to be effective against inflammatory acne vulgaris in concentrations of 1–4% with or without the addition of zinc. However, none of the antibacterials tested was more effective than benzoyl peroxide, which also has the advantage of not being associated with antimicrobial resistance.

Hamad, Ahmed; Sutcliffe, Amy; Knox, Alan

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00004pmid: 15482000

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)-induced asthma (AIA) consists of the clinical triad of asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, and precipitation of asthma and rhinitis attacks in response to aspirin and other NSAIDs. The prevalence of the syndrome in the adult asthmatic populations is approximately 4–10%. Respiratory disease in these patients may be aggressive and refractory to treatment.

Frampton, James; Easthope, Stephanie

doi: 10.2165/00003495-200464210-00008pmid: 15482004