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Treatment compliance a problem for hepatitis c patients by 123wert sdfsf
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Treatment compliance a problem for hepatitis c patients |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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Patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C become less likely to take their medications over time,according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine atthe University of Pennsylvania. Since the study also showed betterresponse to the drugs when they're taken correctly, the researcherssay the findings should prompt clinicians to assess patients forbarriers to medication adherence throughout their treatment, anddevelop strategies to help them stay on track. The study ispublished online this month in Annals of Internal Medicine. "Our findings are particularly timely since many chronic hepatitisC patients are now being prescribed direct-acting antiviral drugs,which have a complex dosing regimen that may be even harder forpatients to maintain than the two-drug standard therapy," said leadauthor Vincent Lo Re, MD, MSCE, an assistant professor ofInfectious Disease and Epidemiology.
"These data show us that weneed to develop and test interventions to help patients be moresuccessful at taking their medicine and have the best chance atbeing cured." Literacy issues, financial hurdles, and socioeconomic problems suchas unstable living situations can all hamper patients' abilities toproperly maintain their drug regimen. The authors suggest thatrefilling patients' pill boxes for them, creating easy-to-followdosing and refill schedules, and helping them set alarms to remindthem to take their medicine may all help improve adherence. The Penn researchers studied 5,706 chronic hepatitis C patients whohad been prescribed the standard treatment for the virus -pegylated interferon (given as a single weekly shot) and ribavirin(a twice-daily oral medicine) -- using pharmacy refill data andtest results for virologic response during treatment. They foundthat patients who refilled their prescriptions on time had a higherlikelihood of being cured of the infection.
However, over thecourse of patients' treatment, adherence waned, and more often forribavarin. That pattern, Lo Re notes, is similar to that amongpatients taking drugs for other chronic conditions, during whichpatients often develop so-called "pill fatigue ." The newer, more powerful direct-acting antiviral drugs, which mustbe taken every 8 hours, will add to the complexity, and cost, ofchronic hepatitis C treatment. In addition, if the newerdirect-acting antiviral drugs aren't taken properly, the hepatitisC virus may become resistant to treatment, compromising the chanceof cure. Hepatitis C is a communicable disease spread via blood,from needle-sharing during IV drug use, tattooing or piercing, oreven from more casual contact like sharing razors and toothbrushes.Worldwide, approximately 180 million people have the disease, about4 million of them in the United States.
Monitoring for and treating drug-related side effects may also be akey factor in boosting adherence, Lo Re says. The study resultsshowed that patients who received medication for thyroiddysfunction, anemia , or low white blood cell counts - common side effects associatedwith hepatitis C drugs - were more likely to remain adherent totheir antiviral therapy. Although those drugs added more steps intotheir self care, Lo Re said the resulting relief for symptoms,including depression , fatigue and irritability, and more frequent visits to health careproviders typically required with administration of these drugs,may play a role in patients' ability to maintain the regimenoverall. "We know that a major barrier to adherence is side effects of thesedrugs.
People don't feel good when they're on them," he said. "Ifwe can identify those problems and treat them when they occur,patients may be more motivated and feel well enough to continuewith their prescribed regimen." Additional References Citations. I am Other Kitchenware writer, reports some information about corner shelf iron , worm gear gearbox.
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