What is the therapeutic window?
The therapeutic window describes a point in which the patient receives enough drug to deal with his complaints without the formation of side effects. All medicines have side effects and the determination of the right dose is often difficult because patients do not always respond consistently. Determination of parameters of the therapeutic window becomes essential when working with addictive or potentially toxic drugs.
Too many drugs have the potential to be more harmful than the disorder to heal. For example, acetaminophene is commonly used to treat pain and fever, but can cause serious liver damage when it is excess. Properly identifying the therapeutic window is also necessary to prevent dependence. This is particularly problematic for pain treatment, because many analgesics are addictive. Not only do the insufficient doses cannot solve the target condition, but it can also intensify the problem. For example, insufficient treatment with antibiotics may result in a stronger infection that is eventually more difficult to treat than the initial condition. In view ofThe fact that drugs are developed and recommended for new conditions is to determine safe and efficient recommendations for dosing the necessary correct identification of the therapeutic window.
timing and duration of treatment can also be seen as part of the therapeutic window. Some diseases, such as shingles, respond to treatment only within a few hours after the infection. Similarly, some conditions such as stroke or spine damage have a natural therapeutic window for recovery in which patients can respond to treatment. Some medicines have been designed to extend the window, especially for stroke victims, but with drugs or without drugs, speech and physiotherapists, often have a limited amount of time to help patients recover. After the nerve damage ends with a certain point, further recovery is often minimal.
Understanding the width of the therapeutic window for the required prescription drug is necessary for the development of safe and effective medicineBile plans. Narrow windows have a much greater risk of damage than wider windows. Patients who have unusual response thresholds are more likely to respond to slightly low doses, but may be particularly vulnerable to slightly high doses. The edges of the therapeutic window are designed to cache against these problems, but for drugs that have very narrow and efficient ranges, sufficient security zones are not always possible.