A modern person throughout his life is accompanied by such negative factors as frequent stress, poor nutrition, and poor environmental conditions. And if a healthy person with a high degree of probability would cope with the negative impact of each of them individually, then the simultaneous influence of all of them can cause a lot of complex diseases in humans that are difficult to treat. But there are also such diseases, for the complete cure of which modern high-tech medicine has not yet created effective drugs. A striking example of such "human suffering" is bronchial asthma. In relation to this disease, we can talk about the existence of drugs intended for therapy that improves the quality of life, and prevention. One of these is the drug "Singlon".
In the rhythm of breathing
In general, bronchial asthma is a kind of allergy to certain components of the human environment. This disease accompanies people from ancient times. The fate of a person suffering from such an ailment was unenviable. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, people began to develop knowledge in the field of allergology, and then the relationship of allergic manifestations and asthma was revealed.
Modern medicine for the treatment of bronchial asthma uses two types of drugs. The first includes medications of basic therapy that affect the mechanism of the disease and make it possible to control its course and minimize the risk of seizures. The second group of drugs is symptomatic drugs, the main purpose of which is the relief of an attack. The need for medications of the second group can be considered an indicator of the quality of therapeutic therapy: the better the base drug is selected, the less often the need for the use of symptomatic agents arises.
“Alone” for allergies (bronchial asthma is a kind of allergy), experts prescribe as an alternative or additional medication in cases where the patient suffers from mild or moderate asthma. Also, with this drug, the doctor can replace low doses of corticosteroids in patients with mild bronchial asthma.
Indications for use
The main sphere of influence of "Singlon" is bronchial asthma. Moreover, experts recommend taking the drug both during the treatment course and in remission. In addition, the medication can be prescribed to those people who suffer from hypersensitivity or intolerance to acetylsalicylic acid (“aspirin” asthma). An effective drug for the prevention of bronchospasm of physical effort.
As an additional therapy, the “Singlon” instruction allows you to use it in cases where persistent asthma (severity - mild and moderate) is ineffectively controlled by such first aid drugs as inhaled GCS and short-acting β-agonists.
The essence of the "work" of the drug is that it is able to block bronchospasm by reducing the activity of peristalsis of the bronchi, which reduces the likelihood of developing an attack. Despite the fact that “Singlon” is absorbed (its analogues behave differently in this respect) rather quickly, it is considered a prolonged-action drug. Simply put, he works and fulfills his "duties" in the human body for many hours.
Composition and existing release forms
The drug "Singlon" is produced by manufacturers in the form of chewable tablets. The main active ingredient is montelukast sodium. As auxiliary components, mannitol, magnesium stearate, aspartame, hyprolose act. In addition, the composition of "Singlon" includes cherry flavoring.
Coated tablets of the drug are made round, biconvex. Produced in three dosages. For patients from 15 years of age and older, the required dose of the drug "Singleon" - 10 mg. The instruction for people suffering from bronchial asthma, regulates daily at the end of the day to take 1 chewable tablet with a dosage of 10 mg (before meals or after - anyway). However, in some cases, the doctor may prescribe as a daily dose and 2 tablets.
Also, manufacturers produce a drug in a dosage of 4 and 5 mg. The presence of the drug in such doses allows the use of "Singlon" for children. Babies from 2 to 5 years old are prescribed taking chewable tablets in a dosage of 4 mg. For the treatment of bronchial asthma and the prevention of exacerbations, older children (6 to 14 years old) should take the drug in a dosage of 5 mg. The standard regimen for treatment with tablets of both dosages (4 and 5 mg) is a single dose, in the evening 1 hour before meals or 2 hours after meals.
Possible adverse reactions
Basically, the drug "Singlon" reviews has a positive focus. However, both small patients and their parents say that sometimes there are side effects from taking the medication, which are expressed in nausea and slight vomiting, dry mouth, short-term attacks of suffocation. Experts attribute this kind of manifestation to the reaction of adapting the body to the "Singleton". Usually, 3-4 days after you start taking all these symptoms go away.
Medical workers note a rather high possibility of developing more complex side effects. An increased tendency to develop bleeding can manifest the lymphatic and circulatory systems. The tendency to anaphylaxis, hypersensitivity, eosinophilic liver infiltration - these are possible reactions to the drug from the immune system. Systemic eosinophilia can sometimes be accompanied by manifestations of vasculitis and Charge-Strauss syndrome.
Some deviations from the central nervous system are possible, which can manifest in sleep disturbances, the appearance of hallucinations, increased psychomotor activity (irritability, anxiety, aggression, tremor). Singleton tablets (consumer reviews confirm) may provoke depression and insomnia. The nervous system can declare itself by the appearance of headaches, dizziness, paresthesia (numbness, crawling on the skin, tingling), the appearance of seizures. Disturbances in the work of the CVS can manifest itself in the form of tachycardia.
The digestive system, as mentioned earlier, can manifest a reaction to the use of "Singlon" in the form of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dry mouth. A kind of reaction from the skin and subcutaneous tissue can be a tendency to bruises, rashes, itching, urticaria. Connective tissue and the musculoskeletal system will declare themselves to be arthralgia (“volatile” joint pain in the absence of objective symptoms of joint damage), myalgia (pain in the muscles).
Notes on the drug "Singleon" instruction and the fact that side effects can be in the form of general deviations from the norm: malaise, feeling tired, thirst, swelling.
Exceeding the maximum possible dose, consequences
In most cases of overdose of the drug “Singlon” known to medical specialists, no particularly severe side effects were manifested. In a small group of patients, an overdose of montelukast, the main active ingredient, caused a reaction in the form of abdominal pain, headaches, thirst, nausea, and hyperactivity. There is no information on whether the drug is excreted using the hemodialysis procedure. There are no specific data on the treatment of montelukast overdose. There is also no antidote.
If for some reason the maximum allowable dose was exceeded and any side effects were manifested, symptomatic treatment should be prescribed to the patient.
Contraindications to the drug
Contraindication for taking the medication is hypersensitivity or individual intolerance to the patient montelukast - the main component of the drug "Singlon". The composition of auxiliary components can also cause serious health disorders in patients sensitive to them. Instructions for use categorically prohibit taking the drug for people suffering from severe forms of liver disease, phenylketonuria (impaired metabolism of amino acids, mainly phenylalanine).
"Single" (4 mg), the instruction prohibits taking children under two years old. The use of a drug in a dosage of 5 mg for children under 6 years of age is unacceptable. Well, and accordingly, the instruction does not allow children under 15 years of age to prescribe the largest dosage of the "Singlon" medication (10 mg).
The use of the medication: general recommendations
The therapeutic effect of the use of the drug "Singlon" (instructions, patient reviews are unanimous) is felt within 24 hours after application. According to the instructions of medical specialists, people should take the medicine not only during the controlled, calm course of asthma, but also at the stages of exacerbation. For patients suffering from liver failure (mild to moderate severity), renal failure does not require dosage adjustment. Information about people suffering from severe liver failure is not available.
The required dose of "Singlon" does not depend on the gender of the person. It is unacceptable to take the drug at the same time as with some other medicines, in which Montelukast is the main active ingredient. If the medication is prescribed as an adjunct therapy to already taken inhaled corticosteroids (glucocorticosteroids), it is undesirable to abruptly replace them with “Single”. In general, this drug should not replace other inhaled and oral GCS.
Chewable tablets with a dosage of 4 mg (like "Singlon" 5 mg), the instruction recommends as an alternative drug inhaled corticosteroids used to treat mild asthma. At the same time, Singlon in such dosages should not be used as the main drug for the treatment of moderate asthma.
As for children suffering from mild bronchial asthma, the use of "Singlon" as an alternative medication is permissible only in cases where small patients have not recently experienced severe attacks. Assign it to those who can not use inhaled corticosteroids. If satisfactory control of the disease has not been achieved within one month, consideration should be given to including an additional drug in the treatment course or changing the anti-inflammatory treatment strategy. For patients suffering from bronchial asthma and taking various medications (including Singlon) for treatment, the instruction prescribes periodically to be examined to regulate the control of the disease.
It is important to remember that "Single" is not used to relieve acute attacks.
Pregnancy and lactation
Studies on the use of montelukast by pregnant women have not been conducted. In the global marketing experience, there have been cases when in babies whose mothers took montelukast during pregnancy - the main component of the drug "Singlon" (instructions, reviews do not recommend this) - birth defects of the limbs were observed from time to time. However, it later became clear that these women took other drugs for the treatment of bronchial asthma. Therefore, it is not possible to speak with confidence about the cause-effect relationships of the manifestation of such defects and the use of montelukast. But before prescribing a pregnant woman for treatment of asthma "Singlon", the doctor must carefully evaluate all the possible risks to the health of the mother and child.
There is no information on whether Montelukast is excreted in breast milk. Therefore, it is also important to evaluate the “benefit - risk” ratio.
Pharmacokinetic characteristics of the drug
The instruction attached to the drug "Singlon" declares a fairly quick process of absorption of the drug. The average bioavailability after application (regardless of food intake) is 64%. The main active component of Singlon is more than 99% bound to plasma proteins. 24 hours after taking the medication, its concentration in all body tissues is minimal. The drug is intensively metabolized. The effect of metabolites on the therapeutic effect of the drug is minimal. 86% of the accepted dose of the drug is excreted through the intestines, the participation in the elimination of the kidneys is less than 0.2%. The maximum dose of "Singlon" and its metabolites is excreted with bile.
The opinion of patients, parents and doctors
Bronchial asthma is a complex chronic and genetically determined disease. It is possible to keep it under control only with the use of complex medications. The bronchi of such patients are always ready for the development of an attack. And since people are constantly surrounded by allergens, they also need to constantly use drugs containing glucocorticoids. These substances have a large number of side effects, which forced scientists to begin the search for modern treatments.
Montelukast - the main component of the drug “Singlon” (its analogues also contain this substance) can have a different effect on the patient’s health. Parents of young patients, for the most part, positively evaluate the drug as an additional therapy. If until recently this drug could be bought abroad, now the medicine is available for residents of the Russian Federation. And it costs less than outside of Russia. Appointment to small children starting from 2 years is possible: “Singlon” 4 mg instruction allows children to take for symptomatic treatment . The administration schedule is very convenient - 1 time per day, preferably in the evening. The use together with a well-chosen base drug allows in many cases to avoid the development of asthma attacks over a long period of time.
Many are interested in whether the drug “Singlon” has analogues. There are a lot of drugs with the same active substance (montelukast) on the pharmaceutical market. These include medications such as Singular and Singulex, Montelast and Montelukast, Montelar and Monax. Manufacturers offer all these drugs to patients in several dosages. Almost all of them can be assigned to children.
Many patients respond well to the drug as an effective preventative tool. It is enough for an asthmatic patient to take a pill before physical exertion, and it is likely that the development of asthma attacks, coughing or bronchospasm can be avoided. Basically, "Singlon" is well tolerated by patients (the exception is individual intolerance to montelukast).
Sometimes parents report that the children at the very beginning of the reception had nausea, slight vomiting, and dry mouth. In a small group of patients, short-term asthma attacks were observed. Allergists associate these symptoms with an adaptive reaction to the drug. In most cases, after 3-4 days, the state of health is normal.
However, from time to time you can hear that the "Singlon" provoked the development of such side effects as blurred vision, hallucinations, tremor of the extremities, a sharp drop in blood pressure. Some patients had to stop taking the drug and seek the advice of an allergist.
But remember: you should not prescribe a single tablet “Singlon” for yourself to treat bronchial asthma. The instruction requires you to first visit a doctor who will correctly select the dosage of the medication and develop a treatment regimen.