[Heparin].

The use of directly observed therapy (DOT) for nearly all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is being widely promoted by the Centers for Disease Control, but its implementation is being resisted by many health professionals. Consequently, less than half of the patients in major metropolitan health departments were given DOT in 1996. The usual justification for "universal" DOT instead of selective DOT is the well-known difficulty in differentiating between patients who are reliable in taking medication from those who are not. Devices called medication monitors, which record when medication is removed from a container, were shown to be effective in determining the reliability of TB patients in taking medication in the 1960s but were cumbersome to use. Since then several improved, convenient to use, electronic medication monitors have been introduced and further improvements can be anticipated. These increasingly practical medication monitors need to be studied as a supplement to DOT in order to make selective DOT an effective alternative to "universal" DOT in managing the medication compliance problem when treating TB.

Drug Monitoring↗

PubMed1999

A review of protease inhibitor-induced hyperglycemia.

Hyperglycemia is an adverse effect that occurs with all protease inhibitors, although few cases have been reported in the literature. Most patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection receiving antiretroviral therapy are also taking at least one protease inhibitor. Patients with a family history of diabetes mellitus may be at a greater risk of developing this adverse effect. It is therefore prudent to monitor all patients starting protease inhibitor therapy for the onset of diabetes or hyperglycemia, particularly those with a family history of diabetes. Baseline fasting plasma glucose or serum glucose level should be measured with follow-up measurements every 3 months for approximately 6-12 months.

Drug Monitoring↗