Clinicians should consider cognitive status and hand strength when metered-dose inhaler therapy is initiated for an older adult. Patients with cognitive impairment and hand strength deficits may require more extensive training, frequent follow-up, or alternative dosage forms.
SUMMARYBackground : Ranitidine hydrochloride (Zantac) is one of the most extensively studied and widely used drugs of all time. This has provided an excellent opportunity to define its safety profile. Methods : Data from 189 controlled clinical trials in which more than 26 000 patients received daily doses of ranitidine for 4 weeks or more were reviewed. More than 80 % of patients were treated with up to 300 mg ranitidine daily ; the remaining patients received doses of up to 1200 mg daily. Eighty-seven trials were placebo controlled. Analyses of post-marketing surveillance and a database of all spontaneously reported adverse events were also evaluated. Results : Overall in the clinical trial programme adverse events were reported by 20 % of those receiving
Calcium antagonists have been shown to depress hepatic enzymes and accelerate hepatic blood flow. This study was designed to compare the effects of two calcium antagonists, isradipine and diltiazem, on antipyrine and indocyanine green (ICG) clearances in the elderly. Eighteen elderly subjects (aged 65 to 80 years) received either isradipine (5 mg every 12 hours), diltiazem (90 mg every 8 hours), or placebo (every 12 hours) for 4 days. On the third day after the study treatment, a 0.5 mg/kg dose of ICG was administered. Blood samples were obtained over 20 minutes for HPLC determination of ICG plasma concentrations. Ten minutes later, subjects ingested 1.2 gm antipyrine. Blood samples were obtained over 48 hours for HPLC determination of antipyrine plasma concentrations. Mean +/- SD antipyrine clearance after diltiazem (0.0258 +/- 0.0065 L/hr/kg) was significantly lower than that observed after isradipine (0.0334 +/- 0.0098 L/hr/kg) or placebo (0.0329 +/- 0.0082 L/hr/kg). Antipyrine clearance after isradipine was not significantly different from that after placebo. Mean +/- SD ICG clearances after diltiazem (9.17 +/- 1.35 ml/min/kg) or isradipine (9.57 +/- 1.82 ml/min/kg) were significantly higher than that observed after placebo (8.06 +/- 1.45 ml/min/kg). These findings suggest that diltiazem, but not isradipine, affects hepatic enzyme activity in the elderly. Both agents accelerate ICG clearance, a marker of hepatic blood flow.
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