Home Medicine

New Ads on the site

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:58:00 +0000

I have been recently looking at some CCPs that can earn me money. However, i don't think google adsense is making me much, so im scrapping it and looking at a possibility in the entity of WigetBucks. This CCP program can earn $3-$6 (as some publishers might say). I am looking forward for the future payout in this program.

More news will be given on this program. Ciao!

Hell Week Chronicles (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:04:00 +0000

Day 2 of my "hell week". Haven't studied much for my Pharmacology exam. Topics are about dermatologic drugs, anti-psychotics (woohoo!), and GI drugs. Right now, i am clearly not studying as i was compiling a written report to be passed today (talk about cramming to the max!). Anyway, i hope all goes well, in which my chances of passing the exam could be estimated to nearly 20% (that's overestimation on my part!)..

Anyway, i will be posting quality posts soon after this hell week. Expect some reviews on nursing sites and medical related sites. As for now, i gotta cry! Ciao!

Start of A Brand New "Hell Week" (Hell Week Chronicles Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:15:00 +0000

This day marks a new "hell week" for the medical students of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila) College of Medicine. It is where i see my classmates with puffy eyes and a "haggard" look. It is where sleep should be out of your circulation. Like i said, it's hell.

My exams for today was Obstetrics (OB) and Pediatrics (Pedia), two semestral subjects for our curriculum. OB was at 7:30am and Pedia was at 1pm. This gave me time to study for pediatrics after the OB exam. OB was about parturition, labor and prenatal care while Pedia was about the normal newborn. The exams were hard, but it's not yet the time for panic. There will be more difficult exams than these two in the following days, much more harder. Wish me luck! :)

Mother's Milk A Gift That Keeps On Giving

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:47:00 +0000

Extensive medical research shows that mothers' milk satisfies babies' nutritional needs far better than any manufactured infant formula. It also protects babies against many common infectious diseases and certain inflammatory diseases, and probably helps lower the risk of a child later developing diabetes, lymphoma and some types of leukemia.

Read full story.

CDC Said US Is Officially Free of Canine Rabies

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:50:00 +0000

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, the United States is free of the dog specific form of rabies known as canine rabies.

This does not mean all rabies has gone, only the strain that can be transmitted from dog to dog. It is still rife in the bat, racoon and skunk population and dogs and humans can still become infected if bitten by one of these animals.

Chief of the CDC Rabies Program, Dr Charles Rupprecht, said that:

"The elimination of canine rabies in the United States represents one of the major public health success stories in the last 50 years."

"However, there is still much work to be done to prevent and control rabies globally," he added.

The announcement coincided with World Rabies Day, but Dr Deborah Briggs, Executive Director of Alliance for Rabies Control said the CDC news should be seen as more than a "one day event":

"This is the first-step in a long-term effort towards human rabies prevention and animal rabies control globally."

Over the last decades US state and local public health authorities have been "working tirelessly" to prevent and control rabies said the CDC in a prepared statement. Rupprecht expressed his thanks to the "tremendous historical efforts at the state and local levels over the past several decades".

"Our public health infrastructure, including our quarantine stations, local animal control programs, veterinarians, and clinicians all play a vital role in preserving the canine-rabies-free status in the US," said Rupprecht.

A three pronged strategy of dog vaccination, licensing, and controlling stray dogs has helped to eliminate canine rabies from the US. Rupprecht said canine rabies could be eliminated in the Western Hemisphere.

Risks still exists however, and a major one is the adoption of dogs into the US from other countries. This highlights the need for global control, at local and national levels, said the CDC statement. The US must continue to be vigilant and continue with the three pronged strategy to maintain its status as a canine rabies free country.

Despite being preventable in humans, rabies, a viral disease, still kills 55,000 people globally every year, equivalent to one person dying of rabies ever 10 minutes.

Infection is usually through being bitten by a rabid animal. The incubation period in humans is typically one to three months, and more rarely, up to one year or more*. It can be prevented with a vaccine but once symptoms emerge it is too late and the patient is unlikely to survive as it is almost impossible to treat.

According to the CDC, the vast majority of rabies cases reported each year are in wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. Fewer than 10 per cent of reported cases are in domestic animals such as cats, cattle and dogs.

The virus infects the nervous system and causes encephalopathy (brain disease) which leads to death. Early symptoms are non specific: fever, headache, generally feeling unwell. As the disease progresses, other neurological symptoms emerge: insomnia, anxiety confusion, slight or partial paralysis, agitation, hallucinations, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia (fear of water).

Once symptoms emerge, death usually follows a few days later.

While the canine strain has been eliminated in the US, humans can still catch it from wild animals, and bats are a particular threat. Rupprecht urged people to continue to have their pets vaccinated.

"The elimination of dog-to-dog transmission of rabies does not mean that people in the US can stop vaccinating their pets against rabies," warned Rupprecht.

"Rabies is ever-present in wildlife and can be transmitted to dogs or other pets. We need to stay vigilant."

IMNMD 2B by Myrna L. Sajo

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:56:00 +0000

I am an MD-to-be. I live an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle composed merely of sleeping to four hours a night (that is if you get lucky), sitting for long hours in the library. My exercise regimen is changing classrooms, standing for an hour or two during bedside discussions, and carrying thick-paged and hard-bound medical books. I am on the verge of caffeine addiction. All my energy has been drained from me. And the worst part is, I'm not just physically drained, I'm mentally and emotionally drained and socially stunted.

Is this the price I have to pay to be a doctor, to have that right to attach to my name those two most important letters in the alphabet, MD? Being a med student is like being handed a free roundtrip ticket to hell. For me, at least, it feels like it. I'm not delusional. I'm not discouraging anybody to be a doctor. But, one must know and understand the realities—the truth that lies behind the typical life of a medical student. Before I entered medical school, I already had this preconceived notion that it would be really difficult. That was an understatement. First year was devoted to studying the "normal". The greatest bulk of my time was spent smelling formalin in the Anatomy laboratory with the cadavers. Since my pre-med was not Physical Therapy, I really had a hard time memorizing the origin, insertion, and actions of muscles which the doctors lovingly tie during practical examinations. Hello! Of course I know the commencement, termination, and tributaries of pudendal vein, but where the heck is it? I could not find it. I bet, even if they give me the whole hour to look for that vein, I'll never find it. Biochemistry? You need a trillion neurons to accommodate the litany of information you have to store. You'll need more than 36 ATP from glycolysis and Kreb's cycle to pass that subject. And more importantly, gluconeogenesis should also take place in your brain, not limited in your liver, because you'll really need a large amount of glucose to feed your ischemic brain.

If you can live in Neuroanatomy, Histology, Anatomy, and Biochemistry memorizing without understanding, Physiology is a different story. Physiology is understanding without the need of memorizing which unfortunately, was even harder for me. Moving on from first year to second year was like transferring from the Sahara Desert to Siberia . Everything we studied was abnormal. We spent hours in Pathology looking under the microscope, helplessly racking every corner of our brains for the diagnosis of a small scraped tissue. How could you tell that the patient is having a heart failure, that she has cancer and that she only has five years to live just by examining a teeny-weeny bit of stained tissue, resembling more an abstract-surrealist painting which I can never appreciate?

The essence of being a doctor nowadays is to be able to give the patient a prescription (Right or wrong, most of the time it does not matter anymore. Patients get instantly healed when they get their prescriptions). And in our Pharmacology examinations, I usually don't get the right drug for prescription writing. Well, except for Paracetamol, but what the heck, I always computed for the wrong dosage. Internal Medicine tackled history and physical diagnosis. Here, you'll get a first-hand experience of interviewing a real patient. It's one small step closer to being a doctor.

I remembered how nervous I was approaching my first patient. I didn't know what to ask. My line of inquiry lacked coherence. I fumbled with the physical examination, wondering why I could not hear any heart sounds nor breath sounds, only to find out I wore my stethoscope the wrong way. I've just finished third year and I'm barely alive.

Third year was a totally different story. I had completely lost the idealism I had when I entered med school. I am beginning to ask myself why I'm spending the prime years of my life almost a breath away from cadavers, half alive-half dead myself. At 23, I should be earning already, and not be an immense burden to my parents. I have a high-maintenance lifestyle. My parents would spend close to a P100,000 a year only for my tuition. I still had to ask my mom money for my books and daily allowance. And I know that this setup will continue another four years or so. As my highschool friends are starting to save their earnings and beginning to build families of their own, I'm hardly out of med school, probably still stuck reading Harrison's Internal Medicine, cramming for a case presentation and helplessly being grilled by a consultant during bedside discussions.

Being a med student is nothing but sacrifice. First and foremost, you have to give up sleep. Sleep is the most precious gift any med student could ever receive. It seems that sleep does not exist in the vocabulary of our teachers. Sleep is taboo to medicine except when doctors advise it to their patients. It's totally ironic. Doctors know that human beings (medical students included), in order to function maximally the following day should at least get eight hours of sleep. Then why do they expect us to read everything, to pass all their difficult exams,actively participate in case discussions and to answer all their questions when you only get an average of four hours or less sleep per day? We're not different from human beings who need to eat three times a day, who breathe the same air, and who need to rest. It's not as if God had given us an extraordinary pineal gland and reticular system so that we have an extraordinary circadian rhythm and a long, long s tate of arousal. I just hope our doctors would understand that if a med student failed to read something, it's not because he was lazy. He was probably tired and had gone to a dreamless slumber because he spent the previous night like a psycho studying for three exams.

I have sacrificed time for my family, for my friends, and for myself. My whole life right now is devoted to Harrison, to Schwartz, to Nelson, to Adams, to Smith, to Green, to Kaplan, all authors of my medical books. I mean if these are the surnames of all the guys I go out with, seven times a week, geez! I would die a happy and fulfilled woman! Instead of accompanying my mom to the supermarket, I have to stay home because I have to study. My dad had already complained to me that I do not have time for him. My friends had stopped calling me because whenever they talked to me I either spoke in monosyllabic words, or they could not understand me because I spoke as if I drank tons of tequila. I talked like a drunk. Well, in fact, I was just in the middle of a dreamless sleep.

See? How can you choose this kind of lifestyle?It's not even a lucrative job anymore. You have to get rid of all the more experienced and old doctors to get even a handful of patients. So, if you want to be a millionaire, don't slave in the hospital because even if God had made one day 72 hours, instead of 24,or gave us 14 days instead of 7 in one week, you're still way off your one million mark before the age of 30.

Of course, I have witnessed a lot of people giving up med school. But never have I heard, not even an anecdote, of a rich businessman giving up his entire career, just to study medicine. Being a doctor is not something you have to decide overnight. It's not a result of your whim or a fulfillment of your parents' dream. Because if these would be your reasons, you're entering the wrong profession. Choosing to be a doctor means being committed to a lifelong journey of endless sacrifice. You have to be sure that this is the life you want to live—that you love to live—not something you'd tire of halfway. The ironic thing is I never wanted to be a doctor in the first place. I wanted to be a writer, a novelist, or even a journalist. I was just dragged by my mother to take up medicine but fortunately after seven years of schooling, I learned to love it. Of course I still have doubts that maybe I'm really not cut out to be a doctor, leading me to think if it's really worth it.

At this point, I don't know anymore. What inspires me to continue is that in the future, I know I'm going to save a man's life. And through it, I can honestly say to myself that I have made a difference in someone else's life. And I reckon, maybe that's what being a doctor is all about. It's not working in some fancy hospital,earning big bucks from your patients, changing your cars quarterly from BMW to an Alfa Romeo to a Jaguar, nor travelling around the world magnanimously sponsored by some big drug companies.

Neither is it the various letters attached at the end of your name. Being a true doctor is not treating the patient as some hypothetical case from a medical textbook. It is treating the patient as a human being, who possesses a heart that does not only pump blood but a heart that could feel, who doesn't have a brain that is visualized only as black and white in an MRI or CT scan but has a mind that could reason, who is not merely composed of cells, of tissues, of organs, and of different systems but a human being who has a soul.

Being a doctor is being able to look at every patient's eyes and seeing in their depths the hope that somehow you can make one father go home and enjoy dinner with his family, or you can make a grandmother attend her only grandchild's piano recital, or you can send a mother to be with her daughter as she enters into the complicated life of adolescence or you can transform an infant's cry to a frolicking laughter. Being a doctor means being a part of an unimaginable greatness that you can only understand if you surrender yourself to years of rigorous training and incessant pursuit of medical knowledge.

During all my interviews in different med schools, they asked me why I wanted to be a doctor. I always answered that I wanted to help and save humanity. I'm sure all my interviewers have heard that same line from countless fellow applicants. But I don't care because it's the truth. I don't know how I can do it but I know eventually I will, in my own small way.

Medicine is neither for the weak-minded nor the weak-hearted. My endurance has been tested. My strength has been staunchly fortified. Medicine has changed me completely. I have sacrificed a great deal and most of the times, I may feel I'm not compensated. Most of the time, I would want to give up but I know deep in the core of my heart, I won't. For after careful reflection, I realized that being a doctor actually gives me a different kind of happiness, a different kind of self-fulfillment, which I can never find in any profession. Well, I just hope my fellow aspiring doctors are fortunate enough to share the same sentiments.

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Credits of this post goes to Myrna L. Sajo who is the author of this one.

How Insulin Secreting Cells Maintain Their Glucose Sensitivity

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:27:00 +0000

Scientists at the leading Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutes have resolved the mystery of how insulin-secreting cells maintain an appropriate number of ATP sensing ion channel proteins on their surface. This mechanism, which is described in the latest issue of Cell Metabolism, explains how the human body can keep the blood glucose concentration within the normal range and thereby avoid the development of diabetes.

Blood sugar absorbed from food is timed to enter muscles as energy supply as well as the liver and fat tissue for energy storage. Otherwise, diabetes occurs. Such glucose transport is precisely controlled by insulin, the body's only hormone capable of lowering blood sugar. This hormone is released from insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas.

The ion channel proteins that are regulated by ATP and that transport potassium ions (KATP channels) are situated on the surface of the insulin-secreting cells to sense blood sugar and control sugar-stimulated insulin secretion. However, it has been a long-standing mystery how the insulin-secreting cells keep an appropriate number of KATP channels on their surface. Scientists at the the Rolf Luft Research Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Karolinska Institutet, have now disclosed a new traffic route whereby sugar promotes the insulin secretion controller KATP channel to march to its post.

Only two routes were believed to operate in insulin-secreting cells to deliver the macromolecules newly manufactured or modified inside cells to the cell surface. One is referred to as a regulated insulin secretory pathway, while the other is termed a constitutive pathway to renew cell surface lipids and proteins including KATP channels.

"We have now found that the newly manufactured KATP channels in insulin-secreting cells reside in a non-insulin-containing structure, which contains the regulated secretory granule marker chromogranin," says Per-Olof Berggren. "Such a structure moves to the cell surface subsequent to elevation of sugar concentration in a Ca2+- and protein kinase A-dependent fashion."

According to Professor Berggren the discovery is very important. This entirely new traffic route endows insulin-secreting cells with an efficient way to maintain an appropriate number of KATP channels on their surface, enabling them to adequately keep the blood glucose concentration within the normal range thus avoiding the development of diabetes.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.

10 Perks of Becoming a Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:20:00 +0000

The process of being a doctor is hard and long. But is it worth all the sleepless nights, the effort, and the extended study time? This is my list of the top 10 perks of becoming a doctor.

1. Family Legacy

We know that our families all want the best for us. By becoming a doctor, our family (especially our parents) will have that sense of pride. It is to be noted that being a doctor means marking a legacy to your family.

2. Income

I must admit, doctors dont earn millions (at least most of them don't).. But i can assure you that you won't go hungry when you are a doctor. There are plenty ways to get money. Examples are donations from your neighbors whom you previously offered a "free" medical check-up. Or having a "BP for $1" stand at your front yard. I know it doesn't sound good, but hey, you wont go hungry. :)

3. You can monitor your family's health

Being a doctor, you can check on your family's health. Pretty self-explanatory.

4. Respect

People usually give proper respect to doctors. It may be because of the white-coat and stethoscope, that have become the icons for doctors. However, people usually respect people because of their reputation and because they acknowledge their capabilities.

5. Can avoid risk factors of fatal diseases

As a doctor, you know the risk factors of diseases and how to prevent them. Moreover, you can cure them if you have acquired one (given that the disease is curable).

6. Advices and Consultation

People will come up to you for advices on their cosmetics, on their health, how to lose weight, and the likes. This will become an avenue for more acquaintances and, possibly, more income on your part.

7. Predicting physiologic outcomes

With your extensive knowledge about a human's anatomy and physiology, you can predict specific outcomes and milestones on the events of a human's life. For example, you would have an idea that a benign tumor is movable and is capsulated compared to a malignant (cancerous) tumor which is immobile, has no permanent shape and enlarges. You can then assess the management for your disease.

8. If an emergency situation occurs, and you happen to be at the scene, you become a star

Just like in the movies, a doctor comes to the rescue in an emergency situation. You never know, you may have saved a life or two. :) An news interview is just a plus, or may be frequent if you're a doctor of a famous personality.

9. The power to heal, the power to kill

Doctors, once they take their oath, have been given the power to heal, in which no other profession can equal. It is a priviledge to open up a person, just to heal them. It is this that people give respect to doctors. They place their lives into doctor's hands.

10. Nobility

The two most noble deed a human can do is to teach or to heal. By being a doctor, you become both. You heal patients, but at the same time you teach them a lesson. A lesson to be only learned once, which is to value their lives and make the most of it.

Parkinsonism

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:44:00 +0000

Now i will be discussing about parkinsonism and management for the disease.

What is parkinsonism?

Parkinsonism is generally characterized into four symptoms:

bradykinesia
muscular rigidity
resting tremors
impairment of postural balance.

The primary pathology of the disease is a decrease in dopamine in the basal ganglia. This disease is mostly observed in older persons 40 years and above. Although some authorities might claim a genetic cause, an infection may possibly predispose an individual to parkinsonism. The pathophysiologic basis of the idiopathic disorder may be related to exposure to some unrecognized neurotoxin or to the occurence of oxidation reactions with the generation of free radicals. Simply put, there are still unknown causes why an individual can have parkinsonism but the primary cause readily accepted by authorities is a genetic predisposition.

There are several kinds of Anti-Parkinsonism drugs. These are:

Dopamine precursor/ decarboxylase (e.g. levodopa/carbidopa or Sinemet®)
MAO beta inhibitors (e.g. rasagiline, selegiline)
Anti-viral drugs (e.g. amantidine)
COMT inhibitors (e.g. entacapone, tolcapone)
Acetylcholine blockers (e.g. biperidine, benztropine)
Dopamine Agonists

Ergot (e.g. bromocriptine, pergolide)
Non Ergot (e.g. pramipexole, ropinirole)

These drugs primarily act on dopamine production and dopamine receptors.

Sinemet® (levodopa 100mg/carbidopa 25mg) causes a reduction in peripheral metabolism of levodopa. SInce levodopa is a precursor of dopamine, a reduction on its metabolism will mean that more precursors will enter the brain. More precursors in the brain will lead to more dopamine production. It is known that dopamine cannot pass the blood-brain barrier and only its precursors can pass from the peripheral blood to the CNS. Basically, the primary management is intravenous (IV) administration of dopamine precursors (levodopa) so that there is an increase in the concentration in the peripheral blood, and carbidopa, which reduces the metabolism of peripheral levodopa, facilitating its production in the CNS.

Dopamine agonists (ergot and non ergot drugs) primarily act on dopamine receptors, more particularly the D3 receptor. They agonize the dopamine effects which results in increased dopamine sensitivity and action of the receptors.

MOA (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors retard the breakdown of dopamine. Selegiline is a selective, irreversible inhibitor of MAO beta at normal doses. High doses of this drug may lead to inhibition of MAO alpha also. Rasagiline is more potent than selegiline in preventing MPTP induced parkinsonism.

COMT inhibitors prolong the action of levodopa by diminished metabolism of L-dopa. They also decrease L-dopa clearance and increase relative bioavailability of L-dopa. It is to be noted that these drugs cannot be used alone. They may be coupled with dopamine precursors and decarboxylases.

Amantidine is an anti-viral agent which potentiates dopaminergic functions by influencing synthesis, release and reuptake of dopamine. It is less potent than L-dopa.

Acetylcholine-blocking agents act primarily on improving tremors and rigidity. They have no effect on bradykinesia. Commonly used drugs are benztropine, biperidine, orphenadrine, procyclidine and trihexyphenidyl.

One might also try neuroprotective therapy such as:

antioxidants
anti-apoptotic agents
glutamate antagonist
intraparenchymally administered glial-derived neurotrophic factor
coenzyme Q10
anti-inflammatory drugs

These are considerations on drug management:

symptomatic treatment of mild parkinsonism is best avoided until symptoms develop a significant impact on patient's lifestyle.
when treatment becomes necessary, a trial of amantidine and/or an antimuscarinic drug may be worthwhile
with progression of the disease, dopaminergic drugs alone or with low dose of Sinemet can be used
in severe parkinsonism with complications of levodopa, COMT inhibitor drugs are used
deep brain stimulation may be helpful in patient who fail response adequately to this measure
young and with mild disease may use rasagiline or selegiline.

Identification Of True Labor

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:18:00 +0000

There is a huge difference between true labor (labor prior to delivery) and false labor (uterine contractions). Here is a list of the differences between the two:

Characteristic of Uterine Contractions

True Labor: Regular Intervals
False Labor: Irregular Intervals

Contraction Time

True Labor: Interval shortens gradually
False Labor: Long, may disappear

Intensity

True Labor: Increases gradually
False Labor: Unchanged intensity

Radiation on Pain

True Labor: Back and Abdomen
False Labor: Chiefly in the lower abdomen

Cervix Dilatation

True Labor: Cervix Dilates
False Labor: Cervix does not dilate

Effect of Sedation

True Labor: It does not alleviate the discomfort
False Labor: Relief of Discomfort

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For more information, contact me through comments. Thank you.

Antiseptics

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Antiseptics, simply put, are drugs that inhibit or hinder the growth of microorganisms. This is done to prevent infections. Antiseptics are very important in a hospital setting, particularly in surgical procedures. Also, these drugs can be used in disinfecting a wound.

There are many antiseptics out in the market. Among these are:

Povidone-Iodine
Chlorhexidine
Benzalkonium chloride

For the sake of discussion, i will only discuss one drug, which is Benzalkonium chloride.

Benzalkonium chloride

This drug is a bactericidal agent which works probably from inactivation of bacterial enzymes.

Therapeutic Effects:

Effective against bacteria, some fungi (including yeasts) and certain protozoa (e.g., Trichomonas vaginalis). Generally not effective against spore-forming organisms.

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For anti-acne drugs, click here.

Acne

noreply@blogger.com (MedGuy) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:51:00 +0000

Acne (layman term is usually "pimple/s") is a major problem for teenagers. Some view this as a mark for puberty, and frequently a poses a problem especially on the cosmetic side. Here i will discuss the nature of acne and possible treatments for the disease.

And so we begin:

What is acne?

Acne is the term for plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads), pimples, and even deeper lumps (cysts or nodules) that occur on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders and even the upper arms. Acne affects most teenagers to some extent. However, the disease is not restricted to any age group; adults in their 20s - even into their 40s - can get acne. While not a life threatening condition, acne can be upsetting and disfiguring. When severe, acne can lead to serious and permanent scarring. Even less severe cases can lead to scarring. (from AcneNet)

Causes of acne range from hormones, stress, hygiene, environment, medicines, diet and genes. Further explanation of these factors are elaborated in AcneWay.

If you need further information about acne, you can visit AcneNet, AcneWay, Acne.org or Mosby_factsheets. Next i will discuss the treatment for acne.

Treatment for Acne:

Treatment for Acne includes:

Benzoyl Peroxide
Tretinoin/Isotretinoin
Cyproterone acetate, Ethinyl estradiol
Adapalene
Azelaic Acid

Benzoyl Peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide is an antibacterial drug. It releases free radical oxygen which oxidizes bacterial proteins in the sebaceous follicles thereby decreasing the number of anaerobic bacteria which cases the acne and, at the same time, may decrease irritating type free fatty acids.

Dosage:

This medicine should only be used once a day. An increase in dosage if needed only. Adverse effects may include drying or peeling of the skin. If this is the case, reduce the dosage. If there is stinging or burning sensation upon application, remove with water and soap. Treatment can be resumed the next day.

Important note: Do not use this medicine with tretinoin or similar products, as it will potentiate (or amplify) adverse effects of the drug.

Tretinoin/Isotretinoin

This drug is used to treat cystic acne which is unresponsive to conventional therapy (example: Benzoyl peroxide). Tretinoin is found to reduce sebaceous gland size and sebum production.

Adverse reactions such as inflammation and drying of skin, burning sensation on the affected area, inflammation of lips and photosensitivity can be observed.

Never couple the drug with carbamazepine as it will decrease its efficacy. Avoid vitamin A products during the course of the treatment. Vitamin A increases the toxicity of tretinoin. It may also interfere with medications used to treat hypertriglyceridemia.

Important note:

Never use this medicine if you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, as it will induce abortion. Also use with caution if you have history of Diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia.

Cyproterone acetate, Ethinyl estradiol

They function as oral estrogen and should be given cyclically for short-term use. However, this drug should not be used when you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant.

This should be taken with caution when you have at least one of the following: hypertension, gallbladder disease, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, kidney or liver dysfunction or history of thromboembolic disease.

One percent of the population taking the said drug can experience the following symptoms during the initial course of medication:

headache
depression
libido changes
dizziness
thromboembolic disorders
hypertension
nausea
vomiting
diarrhea
anorexia
changes in weight
bloating
changes in menstrual flow
breakthrough bleeding
intolerance to contact lenses
leg cramps

Cyproterone acetate, ethinyl estradiol may decrease anticoagulant effects of oral anticoagulants and on the other hand, may enhance steroid effects of corticosteroids.

Smoking and drinking liquors may decrease the efficacy of the said drug.

Adapalene

This drug is primarily used in the treatment of acne vulgaris. For information about acne vulgaris, click here. It is a retinoid-like compound which is a modulator of cellular differentiation, keratinization and inflammatory processes, all of which represent important features in the pathology of acne vulgaris.

Dosage:

The treatment should be used on children above 12 years of age and adults. Medicine should be applied once daily before bedtime. Therapeutic results should be noticed after 8-12 weeks. May be used during pregnancy and lactation. This drug is used for external use only.

How to apply:

Apply with gloves in thin film at night to thoroughly clean or dry the skin. Avoid applying in areas near the eyes and mouth as it might irritate these areas. Do not apply occlusive dressings. Some may experience transient stinging or burning after application. If redness, burning sensation, drying and itchiness persists, report it immediately to your doctor.

Azelaic Acid

This drug has isotretinoin as a prototype. It is a naturally occuring dicarboxylic acid. This drug works to inhibit bacterial cellular protein synthesis. It possesses anti-microbial activity against Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Keratinization (darkening of skin) may be attributable to its clinical effectiveness.

Dosage:

The administration is similar to Adapalene. Apply thin film to clean or dry the area. Use this drug twice a day. Administration is topical. Wash hands before application. Do not use occlusive dressing. This drug comes in either a cream or a gel, so it is important to store it at room temperature between 15-30°C.

Important Note:

Do not use the drug if you are allergic to any of its components. This drug may worsen people with asthma. Adverse effects may include:

Pruritus
Burning
Erythema (redness)
Dryness
Rash Peeling
Irritation
Vitiligo pigmentation (cautious use in people with dark complexion)
Hypertrichosis

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Well, that's it for the anti-acne drugs. If you have any questions, just contact me through comments, and i will try to answer them to the best of my abilities.

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For antiseptic drugs, click here.