pill once a day for patients with constipation induced by opioids -
- Opioid analgesics containing morphine boxes - are widely prescribed to patients with a severe chronic pain. Although these drugs are very effective in the treatment and management of pain, they have a particularly troublesome side effect: constipation. A new drug, called Naloxegol could bring relief. In stage 3 tests reported in New England Journal of Medicine , KU Leuven and international researchers provide new evidence that the drug relieves constipation without dulling the analgesic effects of opioids.
Until a There decade, doctors rarely prescribed opioids, especially reserving for the terminally ill. Today, drugs opioid-based proliferated thanks to their "friendliness" and efficiency. Millions of patients taking opioids on a daily basis to manage pain in the lower back and chronic joint problems. Opioids also play a key role in pain management plans for patients with cancer
However, opioids have a number of side effects including nausea, vomiting and -. Notoriously - constipation. Opioids block pain by binding to mu receptors' in the brain. But they also bind to the mu-receptors in the gut, causing constipation.
Some sixty percent of patients taking opioid painkillers experience constipation. For some, the pain is so great that they choose to stop taking the drug.
A newly developed opioid antagonist called Naloxegol can offer relief. Step 3 tests by an international team of researchers led by gastroenterologist January Belgian Tack (University Hospitals Leuven) confirms the effectiveness of the drug.
Naloxegol is based on the same active molecule as naloxone, a drug developed in the 1960s to counter the effects of opioid overdose. Naloxone is commonly used to wake the patient anesthesia induced by opioids after surgery.
In reaching Naloxegol, the researchers changed the molecular structure of naloxone. The result is an orally administered, a pill once a day for patients with constipation induced by opioids
The researchers tested the effectiveness of the pill in two Phase 3 -. With promising results. Naloxegol has been shown to maintain the pain killing effect of opioids in the brain and block their effects in the bowels. Bowel function in all test subjects in 1400 returned to normal stomach pain and accompanying discomforts and other decreased. No patients experienced relief in pain diminished as a result of the drug.
While studies addressed in the document focuses on patients taking opioids for non-cancer pain such as back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions, similar studies are now underway to examine Naloxegol the effect in patients with chronic cancer-related pain.
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