This week we are studying the routes one can take to get a drug of any kind in to their body. This particular one I wanted to learn more about....
The method I chose is Transdermal administration of drugs. I
have many people I know who have these patches and wanted to learn more about
them. The patch is a Polymer Matrix fabric embedded with a high concentration
of the desired drug. It is a very concentrated amount of medication with a slow
sustained disbursement rate. Health care workers really like this type of administering
the drug because the chances of needle pricks and other issues are gone. People
like it because there is no pain or needles to see.
Currently the patches can administer medicine to help with
nicotine cravings, motion sickness, relieve pain and angina pectoris (coronary artery disease.), and
provide hormones for women in menopause or contraceptives. There are some drawbacks though, because the
skim is designed to protect us it blocks many materials from entering our
bodies. There are currently a limited amount of drugs that can break the skin
layer.
New techniques are giving new options though. Research shows
that using hand held ultra sound devices can trigger energy waves in tissue to
open and allow the molecules from the patch to absorb in. Another new technique
is patches with tiny fiber width needles on the patch that do not trigger pain
stimulus receptors. This way the drug and get through the toughest out layer. In
addition to penetrating the skin enough to allow the drug in there is now a
process that is capable of pulling molecules out of the body to test glucose
for diabetics. How great for diabetics to hopefully not have to prick their fingers
anymore and not have to give them self’s shots either.
Transdermal administration is controlled and has prolonged
absorption. This helps the liver metabolize the drug molecules before the
absorption is complete. It will be very exciting to see more drugs/medications in this form.
