Monday, June 3, 2013

Fen-Phen Linked to Major Pulmonary Hypertension

"Fen-Phen" refers to the usage of the medicine fenfluramine and phentermine in combination. This combination supplied anorectic effects (urge for food suppression) and was used for the therapy of obesity.

In July of 1997, researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation reported 24 cases of uncommon valvular heart illness in girls who took the "fen-phen" combination. The FDA had acquired nine reviews of this phenomenon and subsequently received sixty six further reports. Most of those had been related to "fen-phen", but some involved sufferers who have been taking solely fenfluramine, or the related drug, dexfenfluramine.

Fenfluramine, manufactured and marketed beneath the brand name Pondimin by American Home Products Corp., entered the US market in 1973. When used alone, the drug produced solely average outcomes which were typically overshadowed by distressing unwanted side effects that included drowsiness and modifications in mood.

The addition of the stimulant phentermine compensated for those undesirable negative effects and produced greater weight loss. In 1992, primarily based upon the outcomes of a research carried out by Michael Weintraub and reported within the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, physicians began to prescribe this mixture "off-label" (it was not accredited by the FDA).

Because the patent on Pondimin (fenfluramine) neared its expiration, Redux (dexfenfluramine), which had already been marketed in Europe, was approved.

Dexfenfluramine was manufactured by Interneuron Prescribed drugs and marketed below the model title Redux by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, a subsidiary of American Residence Merchandise Corp.

Based upon reviews of valvular heart disease and first pulmonary hypertension, instances that concerned largely women who had obtained this combination, the Food and Drug Administration requested that fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine be withdrawn from the market in September of 1997.

The FDA did not request that phentermine, the third drug widely used for the therapy of weight problems, and the drug used in mixture with fenfluramine, be withdrawn.

Echocardiograms, which reveal information associated to the structure and functioning of heart valves, have been irregular in a much greater than anticipated variety of the patients tested. Roughly 30 p.c had abnormal findings, although they'd no symptoms. The abnormalities typically involve the aortic and mitral valves of the heart.

The use of fenfluramine results in weight loss as a result of the drug fosters elevated ranges of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is involved with numerous brain functions. In this case, its position is in producing satiety (a feeling of fullness).

As of 2004, fen-phen was not widely available. In 2005, American Layer magazine reported that more than 50,000 product legal responsibility lawsuits had been filed on behalf of people who alleged that they'd suffered damages after taking fen-phen.

PPH (Primary Pulmonary Hypertension), a illness that thickens the capillaries in the lungs and impairs respiratory and for which there isn't any remedy, was linked to derivatives of fenfluramine by the IPPHS (International Main Pulmonary Hypertension Study.

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