A Tablet a Week Keeps Yeast Infections Away
Effective treatment remains costly, however
(HealthDayNews) -- In good news for women who suffer from recurrent yeast infections, a new tablet taken once a week apparently can keep these infections at bay.
"It's a management strategy," Dr. Jack Sobel, a professor of internal medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Wayne State University School of Medicine, told HealthDay.
Until now, safe and effective treatments for long-term use just haven't been available, Sobel said.
The new medicine isn't a cure, he explained, but it's welcome news for the 5 percent to 8 percent of women who suffer with recurrent yeast infections during their reproductive years.
"It's a very common problem," Sobel said. "Nobody dies from this, but it's a source of major physical distress and frustration, and it interferes with sex lives."
Symptoms of a vaginal yeast infection include itching, burning and irritation of the vagina and surrounding area, painful urination, painful intercourse and an abnormal vaginal discharge that resembles cottage cheese but does not have a bad odor, according to the National Women's Health Information Center.
"For many, many years, there was no solution other than to treat the patient every time she had a recurrence," Sobel said. "That meant she would be running to the doctor every second month. That was a major problem." In addition, he said, many of the current treatments are vaginal suppositories, which can be messy or inconvenient to use.
Ketoconazole, a daily oral antifungal medication, became available in 1985, but it had many side effects, including jaundice.
"Patients were scared to take it, and they were right," Sobel noted. "I was scared to prescribe it."
In 1991, another antifungal, fluconazole, became available. Sold under the brand name Diflucan, it is similar to ketaconazole but has fewer side effects.
Sobel led a research study on fluconazole, comparing 387 women who took either 150 milligrams of Diflucan or a placebo weekly. The study was funded by Diflucan's maker, Pfizer Inc.
After six months, about 91 percent of the women taking Diflucan were disease-free, compared with about 36 percent of those taking the placebo. The study also found that even after the women stopped taking the medication, there appeared to be lingering effects. After one year, which was six months after they had stopped the medication, about 43 percent in the treatment group remained disease-free, vs. about 22 percent in the placebo group. The findings were first published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"We showed very convincingly that taking a tablet once a week can prevent breakthrough infections, and gave patients a greater than 90 percent assurance that they would remain attack-free as long as they took the tablet," Sobel said.
Once caveat, however, is the medication's expense. A single tablet costs $10.
"This is a dramatic improvement for quality of life for women, and it is expensive, but it will become less so," Sobel said. "I don't know any other solution. It's simple. It's safe. It's made the infection a non-issue in their lives."
On the Web
To learn more about yeast infections, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians.
SOURCES: HealthDay News; Jack D. Sobel, M.D., professor, internal medicine, and chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Detroit Medical Center and Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit; Aug. 26, 2004, New England Journal of Medicine; The National Women's Health Information Center (www.4woman.gov)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: Aug. 31, 2005
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