#medicinemonday — Public Fediverse posts

Happy #MedicineMonday! The #FDA just approved the first treatment for #RettSyndrome, a rare, genetic, neurological disorder affecting brain development. This condition affects about 1:10,000 females, males to a far rarer extent and leads to a loss of language and motor skills developed earlier in life.

The medication Daybue (trofinetide) is for people 2 or older, delivered orally or via gastrostomy tube.

#DrugDevelopment #RareDisease

Taking a bit of time off #MedicineMonday and #PharmPhriday to take care of my baby. Hopefully he’s all better after getting ear tube surgery 🤞🏽

Today’s #MedicineMonday is brought to you by amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. I’m both grateful we got some (baby has an ear infection) but also have been up since 4:30am due to its side effects 😅

This medication has two components:
💊 #Amoxicillin: β-lactam #antibiotic (interferes with bacterial cell walls by inhibiting peptidoglycan synthesis)
💊Potassium #clavulanate: β-lactamase inhibitor (prevents breakdown of amoxicillin, so it can stick around and do its job longer, and you need less of it!)

Happy #PharmPhriday! 😆#MedicineMonday was about coca wine, so I thought I’d share one of my favorite vintage ads. Cocaine, like lidocaine and related drugs, is a local anesthetic. It works by blocking sodium channels, preventing action potential propagation.

What causes some of the “feel good” effects? Cocaine blocks the reuptake of monoamines like dopamine after release, meaning more stays in the synaptic cleft and can exert its effects longer.

Happy #PharmPhriday! Earlier for #MedicineMonday, I said I’d share more about #warfarin, one of the earliest #anticoagulant drugs.

In the 1920s, there was an outbreak of cattle dying of hemorrhaging after routine procedures. Veterinarians Frank Schofield and Lee Roderick identified moldy silage from sweet clover as the cause. Chemists led by Karl Link identifed the anticoagulating agent, dicoumarol, and further developed it for use as rat poison (1948) then clinically for humans (1954).

Hope everyone is having a nice start to their week and a smooth transition back for those returning from holiday.

Today’s #MedicineMonday is about #drug names.

🐴 Premarin - pregnant mare urine
6️⃣ Vicodin - 6 (VI) times stronger than codeine
⏱️ Lasix - lasts 6 hours
🐮 Warfarin - WARF (Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation), arin from coumarin
🩸 Xarelto - Inhibits factor Xa
😴 Ambien - AM, bien (Spanish for “good”)

Any you’d like to add?

More about #warfarin later this week for #PharmPhriday!

#MedicineMonday time 💊

Levodopa is the most common treatment for Parkinson’s disease, to supplement dopamine as dopaminergic neurons are lost.

Due to nausea and peripheral metabolism, it is co-administered with a drug called carbidopa, allowing a much lower dose of levodopa to be given.

A brand name for the combo is “Sinemet”, for “without emesis”.

For more on the history of levodopa, stay tuned for #PharmPhriday!