Monotherapy - what is it? Advantages and disadvantages of monotherapy

It is very attractive for both doctors and patients such treatment option as monotherapy. What it is - better than others know it is the doctor, directly carrying out therapy for certain diseases. This method of treatment, in addition to its undeniable advantages, also has some drawbacks.

About monotherapy

This method implies that the treatment process will be carried out using only one drug or procedure. The expected effect of such treatment will be full recovery of the patient or normalization of the adjusted indicators of his life.

To date, it is often enough to carry out monotherapy of arterial hypertension. It can be carried out with the help of medicines from the following pharmacological groups:

• Beta-blockers;
• ACE inhibitors;
• Calcium channel blockers;
• Diuretics.

Monotherapy (treatment with a single drug) arterial hypertension is currently a reality. Especially well in this area have proven to be combined medicines, which include in their composition several means at once.

Main advantages

Many people are attracted to monotherapy. What is it and what it is good, try to bring the doctor to the patients. The main advantages of this method of treatment are the following facts:

• Significantly increases the likelihood that the patient will accurately follow the doctor's advice on taking the medication.
• The risk of side effects decreases.
• Compliance with the treatment process for the patient is facilitated.
• Monotherapy is a much cheaper way of treatment than those that assume the intake of a large number of different drugs.

Thanks to such advantages, this option of therapy is practiced by an increasing number of doctors.

About shortcomings

The main disadvantage of this treatment is the fact that often it is not effective enough. For example, with arterial hypertension, sometimes it is not possible to achieve the necessary figures for systolic and diastolic pressure with a single agent. Even in the process of using combined medicines, the dosage of the components contained in them is often insufficient.

Also, combination drugs often have more contraindications to their use than conventional medications.

The course on monotherapy

This method of treatment is now recognized as the "gold standard", in the direction of which it is necessary to move to most branches of medicine. This is due to the advantages that monotherapy has. What is it, what are the positive features it has - are trying to convey to all health professionals and patients.

It has been established that only about 30% of patients correctly follow the recommendations of treating physicians. In many cases this is due to the fact that a person forgets when and at what time he needs to take this or that drug. Much more often this happens when the patient has to take a large number of medicines.

Many patients refuse to use several drugs at the same time because they can lead to the development of various side effects. Significantly reduced risk of their occurrence in those cases when monotherapy is used. What does this mean for the patient? This state of affairs determines the much more rare development of various problems associated with the work of the liver, kidneys and other organs.

The usual drug is often cheaper than the combined one. At the same time, the cost of 2-3 such medicines will already exceed the amount that must be paid for the acquisition of a modern facility that includes several active components at once. As a result, the availability of medical care for the patient again increases, as the likelihood that he will acquire and will use one of the drugs necessary to him increases.

At present, most health organizers, including WHO leaders, are aimed at the progressive development of monotherapy and its wider introduction into the daily practice of doctors and the everyday life of patients.