PPH Treatment

Due to the significant PPH symptoms and the short life span associated to PPH, developing effective PPH treatments continues to be the focus. With just a three-year life expectancy when receiving a PPH diagnosis associated to the condition in the 1990s, the use of certain drug therapies has been shown to increase the life expectancy of some PPH suffering patients. Unfortunately, many therapeutic modalities are very complex and require intensive and ongoing follow-ups.

Since PPH had been a very rare occurrence, appearing in just 1 in 500,000 people normally, most clinicians and medical centers were not properly experienced or knowledgeable on PPH treatment to provide an effective and well-managed plan. Unfortunately, the high popularity of the recalled diet drugs Fen Phen, Redux, and Pondimin was associated to primary pulmonary hypertension and had an occurrence of PPH in 1 in 20,000 users. With an estimated 6-7 million Americans having used Fen Phen prior to the diet drug recall, the number, later thought grossly underestimated, has affected countless amounts of people.

Flolan
Flolan, manufactured by Glaxo Smith Kline, is known as an epoprostenol, a manufactured copy of the natural occurring chemical prostaglandin. Flolan is the only FDA approved drug for the treatment of PPH and has been shown to prolong the life expectancy of PPH patients by 3-5 years more. The PPH Flolan treatment is a lifetime therapy, though, due to its short effect of 3-5 minutes and costs around $100,000 or more every year. The use of Flolan therapy cannot begin into a positive diagnosis of PPH has been made.

Administering Flolan is also very complex, and because of the lack of qualified clinicians, Flolan patients must use special health care services to learn about administering Flolan treatment. A surgically implanted catheter is used with a battery-operated pump. The Flolan is administered intravenously directly into the bloodstream through the catheter. The Flolan is slowly and continuously pumped into the bloodstream because it only lasts 3-5 minutes, and the PPH patients must wear the pump attached to a waist belt on in a shoulder pack.

Flolan is used for the very severe PPH patients that have not responded to calcium channel blocker treatments. The Flolan removes the build up of lipids and lowers blood pressure. The amount of Flolan used varies on the PPH patient’s reaction to Flolan side effects. Some PPH patients will experience headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flushing, and jaw pain with Flolan therapy.

Tracleer
Tracleer treatment is an alternative PPH therapy intended to improve the exercise ability of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Tracleer blocks the action of the hormone endothelin, which exists in higher levels in people with pulmonary hypertension. Endothelin is harmful to the lung and pulmonary arteries, causing the blood flow resistance that causes hypertension. Tracleer is used to lower artery pressure by lowering the level of endothelin.