Sometimes, medical therapy is just funny. Disulfiram, one of the drugs we had to learn for pharmacology months ago, is a treatment for chronic alcoholism.

We’re familiar with antibiotics working with the body’s immune system to destroy bacteria and resolve infections. In this case, antibiotics typically interact directly with the bacterial organism (halting protein synthesis, preventing cell wall formation, etc.) and the body has a chance to “catch up” with its immunological onslaught.

Disulfiram works in an interesting way. Since you can’t “target” chronic alcoholism, it’s mechanism is quite simple – if you’re caught drinking alcohol while on disulfiram, you’re going to regret it. Yes, it’s a drug therapy of intimidation.

Alcohol is metabolized by the liver to acetaldehyde (one of the main culprits of the “hangover”) which is subsequently metabolized to harmless acetic acid through acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Disulfiram acts by inhibiting said enzyme and effectively raising the levels of acetaldehyde in the blood. The result? If you drink even a little alcohol, you’re going to have a miserably prolonged hangover – based on statistics, this has been a sufficient reason for chronic alcoholics to practice abstinence.

Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. have recently received approval from the FDA for using Alimta (a drug originally approved in 2004 for the treatment of mesothelioma) for maintenance therapy of advanced/metastatic non-smell cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Read more  

A recent Institute of Cancer Research study published in the New England Journal of Medicine describes a novel way of treating BRCA-gene based cancers. Mutations in the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes are routinely linked with higher incidence of breast and ovarian cancers in women; however, in healthy cells, the aforementioned genes are involved in a repair mechanism. Read more  

Those with stakes in GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) were pleased this morning as the stock rose on account of the FDA’s approval of Lamictal XR (“extended release”) . The drug, aimed at epilepsy patients thirteen years of age and older, is intended to reduce seizures in patients who have had unsuccessful results with other therapies.