The newest drug of our time "Azilect" is a drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, which is a selective inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, which serves as an enzyme that starts the process of removing the amino group from molecules. One of the actions of MAO (monoamine oxidase) is the destruction of dopamine, which acts as a neurotransmitter that transmits nerve impulses from cell to cell. Dopamine deficiency, along with the death of nerve cells, provokes the development of Parkinson's disease in people. The selective inhibitor "Azilect" prevents the destruction of monoamines with the help of the MAO enzyme. Thus, this element retains dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, tryptamine, phenylethylamine and octopamine, causing an increase in their concentrations between nerve and effector cells. Next, let's talk about the latest medicine of our time "Azilect" in more detail.
Medication description
Sothe presented remedy is referred to as antiparkinsonian drugs. Its active ingredient is a powerful selective irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, which increases the extracellular content of dopamine in the brain.
In the course of experiments, scientists have proven an increase in the level of this neurotransmitter and an additional increase in dopaminergic activity, which contributes to the therapeutic effect of the drug. The drug can be well absorbed, and its highest concentration is reached after thirty minutes.
"Azilect" - the latest medicine of our time, today it is recognized as one of the best medicines against Parkinson's disease. It is characterized by rapid absorption and rapid onset of action. This agent is destroyed, as a rule, in the liver and excreted from the human body with urine. It differs from alternative drugs in dosage stability and, importantly, in the absence of many side effects.
Parkinson's disease
The ICD-10 code for Parkinson's disease is G20. This is a slowly developing disease of the central nervous system, characterized by slowness of movement, trembling at rest, and impaired reflexes. At the heart of the disease is damage to the nerve cells of the brain stem. Therapy is carried out throughout the patient's life.
Issue form
Tablets "Azilect" are produced in a blister of ten pieces, in cardboard packaging. The pills are flat and round, white in color with the GIL 1 logo and a chamfer on one side. The active component of the consideredmedication serves as rasagiline mesylate.
Composition of the tablet
One tablet of Azilect contains 1.56 milligrams of rasagiline mesylate. Auxiliary substances are corn and pregelatinized starch, colloidal silicon dioxide, as well as mannitol, talc and stearic acid.
Pharmacological action
The active substance rasagiline is highly active against MAO (monoamine oxidase) and helps to increase dopamine levels, reducing the formation of free radicals that are characteristic of Parkinson's disease. In addition, this drug has a neuroprotective effect that does not block the metabolism of biogenic amines that come with food. Due to this effect, tyramine-induced hypertensive syndrome is not caused. The drug is well removed tremor in Parkinson's disease.
Pharmacokinetics
The active ingredient in the tablets "Azilect" rasagiline is quickly absorbed in the body after it is taken orally. The maximum concentration in blood plasma is reached, as a rule, already in half an hour. The absolute bioavailability of the drug after a single use is about thirty-six percent. It is worth emphasizing that the products do not affect the time to reach the highest content of rasagiline in the blood, however, when using fatty foods, this figure can decrease by twenty percent. The pharmacokinetics of the drug is linear in the dose range from 0.5 to 2 milligrams. Linking withblood proteins range from sixty to seventy percent.
Indications for use
The presented medical product is intended for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in humans (according to ICD-10 G20). It can be used for monotherapy, as well as in combination with Levodopa.
It is worth recalling that you should not choose an anti-Parkinsonian drug without consulting qualified specialists. The fact is that the effect that this drug has is usually very individual, and therefore it should be prescribed exclusively by the attending doctor.
Contraindications
According to the instructions for use for Azilect, the drug is not suitable for use in therapy if patients have the following diseases and conditions:
- Against the background of concomitant treatment with Pethidine or other MAO inhibitors (it should be noted that the interval between the abolition of Azilect and the start of a course of therapy with this drug should be at least two weeks).
- For severe or moderate liver failure.
- As part of joint therapy with sympathomimetics (whether pseudoephedrine or ephedrine), as well as with other decongestants and with pharmaceutical preparations that contain them. Azilect's contraindications must be strictly observed.
- With pheochromocytoma.
- In childhood and adolescence (up to eighteen years).
- Pregnancy, like the lactation period, is also a ban on the use of Azilect, as there isrisk of inhibition of milk production due to inhibition of prolactin production.
- If you are hypersensitive to rasagiline or one of the components of the pharmaceutical agent in question.
The antiparkinsonian drug is prescribed with great caution in case of mild liver failure, as well as when combined with selective inhibitors (Fluoxetine and Fluvoxamine), tetracyclic and tricyclic antidepressants.
Instruction and application
The described pharmaceutical drug is prescribed to patients orally at a dosage of 1 milligram once a day with or without Levodopa. The drug can be used regardless of the intake of products. For the elderly, dose adjustment is usually not required.
Separately, it is worth highlighting patients who suffer from impaired liver function. They should avoid rasagiline if moderate organ failure is diagnosed. With great caution, it is allowed to carry out therapy for people with mild liver failure. But, nevertheless, in case of the onset of progression and aggravation of the condition, treatment with Azilect should be immediately stopped in such patients.
For people with impaired renal function, it should be noted that dosage adjustment is not required for them.
Side effects
When taking the drug, there may be disturbances in the form of anorexia, convulsions, depression, headache, nausea and dizziness. Possible negative manifestations can actually be provokedquite a lot, so it's worth considering this question in more detail:
- The nervous system may react with headaches, depression, dizziness, anorexia, convulsions, more rarely cerebrovascular accident.
- The digestive system usually responds with decreased appetite, dyspepsia, and so on.
- Arthralgia can be seen in the work of the skeletal and muscular systems along with arthritis and pain in the neck.
- Dermatological reactions include vesiculobullous rash associated with contact dermatitis, and rarely skin carcinoma may occur.
- The cardiac and vascular systems react with the appearance of angina pectoris. Myocardial infarction is extremely rare.
- Other undesirable manifestations, according to the instructions, include the development of a flu-like syndrome along with fever, leukopenia, rhinitis, general weakness, conjunctivitis, acute disorders of the urinary system and allergic reactions.
In the event that Azilect is taken together with Levodopa, the following pathological symptoms may appear:
- The nervous system sometimes responds with dyskinesia, muscular dystonia, anorexia, unusual dreams, ataxia, very rarely there is a violation in the cerebral circulation and confusion.
- The digestive system may react with constipation, vomiting, stomach pain or dry mouth.
- The work of the bone and muscle system is accompanied by arthralgia, painin the neck and tendosynovitis.
- Dermatological reactions include rash, extremely rarely melanoma of the skin.
- From the side of the cardiac and vascular systems, postural hypotension is possible. Quite rarely, angina pectoris occurs in this case.
- Other side effects include accidental falls along with weight loss and allergic reactions.
To date, there have been two reports of rhabdomyolysis and problems in the secretion of antidiuretic hormones. Both cases were seen as part of post-registration testing without placebo control. The relationship between these complications and the use of rasagiline is problematic to determine.
Overdose
The symptoms of an overdose of the drug "Azilect" are similar to those with an excess of non-selective MAO inhibitors. In this case, patients may experience arterial and postural hypotension. As part of the treatment, doctors resort to gastric lavage, taking activated charcoal and symptomatic therapy. There is no specific antidote.
Special Instructions
It is recommended to avoid the combined use of rasagiline with Fluoxetine or Fluvoxamine. The total break between the withdrawal of the drug "Fluoxetine" and the start of treatment with "Azilect" should be at least five weeks. And between the abolition of rasagiline and the start of therapy with Fluvoxamine, this should be at least fourteen days.
Medicine manufacturers do not advise concomitant use of rasagiline with"Dextromethorphan" or with sympathomimetics, such as those included in oral and nasal vasoconstrictor drugs or cold medicines that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. As noted earlier, it is necessary to start treatment with Azilect with great caution among patients who suffer from liver damage.
It is important, among other things, to take into account that the main component of the drug rasagiline can provoke drowsiness in patients during the daytime, and sometimes, especially in the case of simultaneous use with alternative dopaminergic drugs, it is even possible to fall asleep in the process of performing one or another activity.
With this in mind, patients should be warned to exercise caution while driving or operating machinery. And it is best to refuse such actions for the period of treatment.
Reviews of patients with Parkinson's about "Azilect"
On the Internet you can read positive comments about the drug. People talk about getting better. It is worth noting that reviews on the effectiveness of the drug are left by patients belonging to different age groups. Thus, most reports confirm the efficacy of the drug in question.
But there are also negative comments in which patients write that in many cases, especially in the first few months of admission, they experienced the development of various side effects, which, however, subsequently disappeared.
Medics, in yourturn, they comment on this by the fact that rare side effects can be a complication of the underlying disease, such consequences are often found among those suffering from the disease and not using Azilect for the treatment of parkinsonism syndrome. When taking this drug, the dose of the drug is not increased, and adverse reactions are less common than during therapy with alternative antiparkinsonian drugs.
Can I take this drug at night?
Many are interested in the question of whether it is allowed to use the latest modern medicine "Azilect" before bedtime. The answer in this case is positive. The main condition is that this drug is required to drink every day, preferably at the same time.
Cost
The price of Azilect largely depends on the pricing policy of the pharmacy chain in which it is sold. As a rule, on average today it is 5.5 thousand rubles per pack. In this regard, it must be taken into account that this medicine is not cheap, and for targeted treatment it is necessary to be prepared for serious expenses. This drug is manufactured in Israel.
Azilect: INN
The international name (INN) of the drug in question is the name Rasagiline (rasagiline). The generic definition of the active ingredient provides basic information about the drug in the international pharmaceutical market. The fact is that very often medicines with the same active ingredient are released underdifferent trade names, that is, in fact, it is the same drug, but produced by different manufacturers. It is the INN that provides doctors with the opportunity to navigate the large number of all kinds of medicines that are sold around the world today.
