What are the side effects of thalidomide?
What are the side effects of thalidomide?
Thalidomide may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:
- drowsiness.
- confusion.
- anxiety.
- depression or mood changes.
- difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
- bone, muscle, joint, or back pain.
- weakness.
- headache.
What poison can cause liver damage?
Common chemicals that can cause liver damage include the dry cleaning solvent carbon tetrachloride, a substance called vinyl chloride (used to make plastics), the herbicide paraquat and a group of industrial chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls.
How long does it take to recover from drug induced liver damage?
In the typical case, however, improvement starts within a week or two of stopping therapy, and the injury resolves completely within 2 to 3 months. The timing of recovery in relation to stopping the drug provides support for the agent being the cause of the injury.
How long does thalidomide stay in the body?
In healthy adults, it takes up to 2 days, on average, for most of the thalidomide to be gone from the body. It has been recommended that individuals using thalidomide one month before trying to get pregnant.
What disease is thalidomide now used to treat?
In the 1950s and 1960s, thalidomide was used to treat morning sickness during pregnancy. But it was found to cause disabilities in the babies born to those taking the drug. Now, decades later, thalidomide (Thalomid) is being used to treat a skin condition and cancer.
What are the side effects of taking thalidomide?
Other facial problems linked to thalidomide damage include irregular teeth numbers/spacing, small jaws, cleft palate and cleft lip, and small noses (Newman, 1985, 1986; Smithells and Newman, 1992).
How is thalidomide used in the treatment of CD?
The glutamic acid derivative thalidomide is a transcriptional inhibitor of TNF-alpha but is also known to affect human blood vessels, which may underlie its teratogenicity. Thalidomide has been used in the treatment of refractory Crohn’s disease (CD), but the therapeutic mechanism is not defined.
What kind of birth defects did thalidomide cause?
Between 1957 and 1962, thalidomide caused severe birth defects in over 10,000 children. Almost any tissue/organ could be affected by thalidomide. Indeed a detailed UK Government sponsored report in 1964 (UK Government Report, 1964) detailed that almost all the tissues and organs of the body could be affected by the drug.
Is there a link between thalidomide and multiple myeloma?
Thalidomide and its analogue lenalidomide are immunomodulatory and antineoplastic agents that are used in the therapy of multiple myeloma. Both agents are associated with a low rate of serum aminotransferase elevations during therapy and both have been implicated in causing rare instances of clinically apparent liver injury which can be severe.
