Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Psoriasis Treatment- Side Effects of Cyclosporine


Are you a psoriasis patient? Are you given psoriasis? Then you should know about the side effects of cyclosporine. This is a very effective drug in severe psoriasis, but it should be given under specialist care.
Side effects of long term treatment include,

  • Hypertension
  • Kidney damage
  • Viral warts with risk of skin cancer
  • Hypertriglyceridaemia
  • Hersutism
Therefore the doctor will do the following tests before starting treatments.

  • Blood pressure
  • Serum creatinine
 
He will check serum creatinine 2 or three times before starting the treatment. Serum creatinine is a good indicator of renal function. Values more than the normal levels, indicate kidney damage.  This is to establish a baseline value for serum creatinine so subsequent values (every other week) after starting the treatments can be used to assess any kidney damage.

Fifty percent of patients who are on cyclosporine can develop systolic blood pressure >160mmHg and diastolic blood pressure >95mmHg. Such patients are given calcium channel blockers like Nifedipine or angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors if not tolerated. 

A lipid profile will also be done to see any development of Hypertriglyceridaemia.

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