More than 40 years back, when oral diuretics entered the medical field, Acetazolamide had its own good time. With the entry of new and better diuretics, the use of this drug as a diuretic was completely given up.
I remember a time, when this drug was in short supply with the chemists. It was the ophthalmologists, who kept up the use of this drug by prescribing it to patients of glaucoma. It was also used by doctors in armed forces to prevent mountain sickness. A few years back, before the entry of newer drugs in the market, this drug was used in the management of Petit Mal seizures.
Lately, the diagnosis of familial periodic paralysis, which was often missed in the past is being made more frequently. It has also been realised that these patients may not have hypokalaemia, but may have normokalaemia or hyperkalaemia. It is interesting to note that Acetazolamide can be used in this illness to prevent the attacks of paralysis not only in patients having hyperkalaemic type of paralysis, but also in patients having normokalaemic or hypokalaemic type of paralysis.
CASE REPORTS OF SUSPECTED ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS ARE OF LIMITED VALUE
Published care reports of suspected adverse drug reactions are of questionable value, as the suspected reactions are seldom subjected to further verification. Loke and colleagues carried out a systematic follow-up of 63 adverse drug reaction reports published in 1997 in five medical journals and found that the vast majority (83%) of the suspected reactions had not been subjected to additional rigorous evaluation after five years. Details of the suspected reactions also failed to be consistently incorporated into commonly used drug information sources.
BMJ, 2006; 332, 335. |
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