New Ways to Take Meds Have Patients Excited

Apr. 11--Medicine traditionally has found its way into the body via shots, pills and syrups, but new delivery methods are expanding.

Innovations include patches to curb pain and stop bedwetting, insulin inhalers for diabetics, lollipops for throat pain, popsicles to help dentists calm skittish youngsters and topical gels for hormone replacement.

Creams can be rubbed into the wrist to control nausea and anxiety, and a gel massaged on the shoulders for a few months promises to increase the testosterone levels of aging men.

Inhaled prescription drugs are now used to treat pulmonary disorders such as asthma and emphysema.

Nasal sprays and quick-dissolving tablets are flourishing.

A "puffer" device gently puts anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory medicine into patients' ears.

"Both patients and physicians have additional choices for treatment," said Dr. Fred Garfinkel of Tulsa.

A patent recently was awarded to a drug company planning to produce a chewing gum laced with Viagra.

"There's no end to these alternative dosage forms," said Dave Mason, an Edmond compounding pharmacist.

Mason said Oklahoma patients embrace new medication techniques because "they are frustrated by the many limitations that have hurt health care delivery." Many of the alternative approaches have been developed by groups of compounding pharmacists such as Mason.

New drug delivery approaches "are appealing to those who cannot swallow traditional pills, tablets and capsules," said Shelly J. Prince, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.

"They also avoid the inconvenience of liquid medications," Prince said.

Lillie Neal of Oklahoma City formerly took several tablets a day to control her asthma and shortness of breath. But the tablets made her nervous and shaky, she said.

In her new form of a prescription drug dosage, a device punctures a tablet placed in an inhaler and the medicine's powder is inhaled into the lungs.

Some of the drugs once given by injection or three to four times a day in pill form now are administered by more convenient means for the patient, Southwestern's Prince said.

Patient compliance and long-lasting medication delivered directly to the area of pain are reasons for the popularity of nontraditional dosing methods, said Ronald E. Young at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in Oklahoma City.

Many of the alternative methods are thought to work better and get into the bloodstreams quicker, pharmacists said. Some doses are designed to dissolve rapidly in the mouth.

Most new drug-delivery processes have fewer side effects than traditional pills and tablets, according to pharmacists contacted by The Oklahoman.

For the most part, they are more expensive because extra research must be done to prove the effectiveness and safety of the product.

Patches can deliver a drug for up to seven days, and are therefore more convenient for many patients, Prince said.

One example is the Ortho-Evra patch used for contraception. "Now, the patient doesn't have to remember to take a birth control pill every day, but can apply this patch once weekly," Prince said.

"They are easy to apply and remove, and are more convenient to administer than an oral-dosage form," Prince said.

All the new dosage forms need U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to show that they are at least as -- if not more -- safe and effective as what currently is on the market.

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