Online Pharmacy Scams

Online pharmacy scams have become a real threat to the consumer these days. With the rise in the cost of prescription medication, there has been a corresponding rise in online pharmacy sites. Sadly, this rise in online pharmacies has inevitably led to a rise in online pharmacy scams. Criminals are taking advantage of the fact that it is harder to monitor online business and robbing often sick and elderly people of their hard earned cash. While there are many disreputable online pharmacies, there are also some companies that do provide a genuine and valuable service to people who may not be otherwise able to afford much needed medication. One such reputable online company is MedsIndia.com who has been in business since 2001 when the need for this service became apparent. By knowing what to look for one can easily avoid falling victim to these online pharmacy scams.

What They Do To Hurt You

We have all received emails in our junk mailbox, sometimes daily, from an unknown person encouraging us to go visit some website with a bizarre domain name to purchase cheap medications. Unfortunately, many of these are scams and operate by relieving hard working people of much needed medication money. Some of these companies will charge a customer for the medications by taking their credit card information and then just fail to ship the product. The majority of these online pharmacy scams are perpetrated by companies that have been in business for a short amount of time. These companies will usually change domain names and email addresses often and quickly to ensure they are not caught for their illegal activities.

There Is Hope

Although the fact is that there are many online pharmacy scams, there are also some legitimate businesses on the web that do offer valuable services to people in need. There are a few easy ways to verify whether the online pharmacy that you choose is a reputable source for your medications. One way is to check on the domain name and look at how long the business has been operating under that domain name. The longer a business has been operating under their domain name the higher the chance that their business is honest. For example, MedsIndia.com has been using the same domain name since 2001 and has built its reputation by being reliable and trustworthy. There are many sources to get domain name information, either at your favorite domain registrar or at websites such as Whois.net, a site that will give you info on how long a domain name has been active. Another way of checking to ensure that you don’t fall victim to online pharmacy scams, is to look at who is referring you to the pharmacy. It is also valuable to look for reviews of the company with whom you are thinking of placing an order and see what past customers are saying. Another easy thing to look for when shopping for medication online, is whether or not the company guarantees delivery of their products. Many reliable companies such as MedsIndia.com will refund the full purchase price of your order if for some unforeseen reason they are unable to ship the product to you. A little research time at the computer may save you much money and trouble in the future when it comes to online pharmacy scams, and by knowing what to look for you can safely ensure that you are not taken for a ride.

Codeine - Background Information

Codeine belongs to a family of four major alkaloids found as a natural products in the opium poppy plant, along with morphine, thebaine, and papaverine. It is medically used for its analgesic, antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties. Because of the small concentration found in nature, between 0.3% and 3% of the total mass of a poppy plant, most codeine found in medical products is synthesized from morphine, which is the most prevalent alkaloid in opium, having a concentration ratio of 10 to 16%. Codeine was first isolated from opium by the French chemist Pierre-Jean Robiquet in 1832.

Codeine is less potent than morphine and has a correspondingly lower dependence-liability than morphine. However, like all opioids, continued use of codeine induces physical dependence and can be psychologically addictive.

Indications

Codeine's common medical uses include relief of mild to moderate pain (eg arthralgia, back pain, bone pain, dental pain, headache, migraine, myalgia and surgical pain), relief of non-productive (dry) cough, relief of diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome. Codeine can be found in many pharmaceutical products all around the world, it's found in many forms including tablets, capsules, syrups, etc. The sulphate and phosphate salts are used most frequently in medicine. Codeine is usually given orally as an ingredient in syrups to relieve non-productive cough. It is also combined with non-narcotic analgesics (eg paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen, and others) and is used orally to relieve pain. Generic injection is also available.

Precautions

All opiates/opioids may impair the mental and/or physical abilities required for tasks requiring reflex, such as driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery. Codeine must be avoided in persons with chronic heart failure, advanced respiratory insufficiency, bronchial asthma, and raised intracranial pressure. Persons with severe kidney or liver disease should avoid taking opioids orally because of the possibility of drug accumulation or prolonged duration.

Opioids can cause urinary retention especially in patients with prostatic hypertrophy (enlarged prostate), urethral stricture, bladder obstruction, or pelvic tumors. Convulsions can be precipitated by opiate in users with pre-existing seizure disorder, eg epilepsy.

In pregnant women codeine has been connected to respiratory malformations of the fetus and there are risks for the fetus towards the end of pregnancy. Also, infants born to mothers who have used the drug during pregnancy may also experience withdrawal symptoms. Besides, clinically important amounts of codeine have been found in breast milk. If you are pregnant or nursing mother, you must not use codeine.

High dosages can be lethal.

Effects

Drug effects depends heavily on the dose, route of administration, previous exposure to the drug, and the expectation of the user. Aside from their clinical use in the treatment of pain, cough, and acute diarrhea, opioids produce a general sense of well-being, euphoria, and can reduce tension, anxiety, and aggression. These effects are helpful in a therapeutic setting, but also contribute to their popularity as recreational drugs, as well as helping to produce dependency. The dependency potential is moderately low, but continued use results in both psychological and physical dependency.

Additional effects are drowsiness, lethargy, relaxation, dizziness, difficulty in concentrating, decreased physical activity in some users and increased physical activity in others, mild anxiety or fear, nervousness or restlessness, constriction of the pupils, confusion, blurred vision, impaired night vision, hallucinations (eg 'corner-eye' hallucinations, seeing 'spiders' and 'bugs'), reduced respiratory rate, nausea and vomiting, constipation, loss of appetite and decreased gastric motility, hiccups, difficulties with urination. It should be noted that these effects may not be experienced all at once, or at all by some users.

Indian Pharmacies - A Background

Indian pharmacies are just a part of the global pharmaceutical industry which is expanding worldwide, especially in Asia. Following the favorable dynamics of the economies on that part of the globe, the industry in China, India, as well as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand is registering high growth rates. In regards to Indian pharmacies, the country is becoming more and more a major pharmaceutical destination for an industry that is adjusting itself to the transformations of the world economy. Thanks to the low operational costs of its well developed infrastructure of production, qualified staff and extensive research units, buying from Indian pharmacies has become an inarguably cost-effective way for consumers to obtain their medications from reputable and established resources.

Future Development

Drivers of growth in India's internal pharmaceutical market is found in the increase of the population and the expansion of the middle-class favored by the blooming economy. According to UN estimates, the population total looks set to rise from 1.1 billion at present to 1.4 billion in 2020. Up until 2020 India will see as many children being born as there are people living in Germany, France, the UK and Italy together. By 2025, India will probably have overtaken China as the world's most populous country. Already today, nearly 60 million people in India’s middle class, with disposable incomes up to US 25,000 per year can afford western-produced medicines. Until 2025 their number looks set to rise to approx. 580 million, according to McKinsey estimates.

The Future Of Pharmacy - Generics And Healthcare

India’s pharmaceutical industry has been re-aligning itself for several years now. An important landmark in recent years has been the changes to drug patent legislation in 2005. Prior to that, only the manufacturing process of a drug was protected by copyrights - not the substance itself, a measure introduced in the seventies by the Government of India to promote the domestic market, since the population was unable to afford highly priced foreign drugs. Indian drug producers could copy expensive original preparations of foreign firms to create generics by means of alternating production procedures. This awarded the Indian pharma an extraordinary grow, making it able to address the local market needs with surpluses that facilitated exports. The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry developed advanced know-how in reverse engineering and means of manufacturing and gained expression locally and abroad.

So, as a result of the 2005 patent legislation, Indian drug firms could no longer simply copy medicines with foreign patents. The patent expiration dates must now be respected before the drugs can be replicated. As such, the country’s pharmaceutical industry is reorienting itself. It now focuses also on drugs developed in-house and contract research or contract production for western drug makers. However, generic drugs are expected to remain at the core of almost all the Indian pharmaceutical industry. In the next five years, an approximate US 100 billion value in blockbuster drugs will be coming out of patent. India has a leverage in this scenario, and roughly one-third of this market share will likely be produced by Indian companies.

All the while, the world economy is also undergoing profound changes. The cost for healthcare in the developed countries, in particular in US, is forcing the insurance companies to look for alternatives to ease costs. As such, the preference for generic drugs is on the rise. Recent trends suggest that the use of generic drugs worldwide is growing annually by 14%, which is 8% faster than prescription, or branded products. The generic market today forms 75 per cent of the US pharmaceutical industry compared to 5 per cent in 1984. Generic prescriptions as a percentage of total prescriptions stand at 47 per cent in the US (up from 18.6% in 1984), 49 per cent in Germany, 52 per cent in the UK, 40 per cent in Canada, 11 per cent in Japan, and 5 per cent in France (WHO 2004).

India is strategically situated to absorb the demand of pharmaceutical companies looking for a cost-cut through outsourcing its various stages of drug development. Considering its large infrastructure developed throughout the years of reverse engineering and mass production, along with its modern centers of research, and its increasing qualified pool of English-speaking work force, India is poised to become a major player in the global arena of the pharmaceutical industry in the years to come.

Online Pharmacy Information For Consumers Worldwide

An online pharmacy is a good example of how the advent of the internet has significantly altered people's lives around the world. More and more, people are taking to the internet and its advantages in addressing their daily needs. Indeed, purchasing medications from an online pharmacy brings a great deal of convenience and savings. Few consumers are able to easily accommodate a doctor's visit into their schedule every time they need a prescription drug. Others simply love being able to avoid having to travel to a drugstore, wait in lines, turn in their prescription, wait for it to be filled or come back to pick it up later, whereas those concerned with their privacy find it unpleasant having to disclose that you are suffering from this or that condition. In the case of the uninsured and under-insured, their primary concern is the prohibitively high cost of their medications. All in all, an Online pharmacy can offer a most needed alternative to everyone. The purchase can be made from the comfort of your home, discreetly. It also allows you to easily shop around the globe to enjoy privileges not available at your local drugstore. You will be surprised to find that shopping oversees can afford substantial savings compared to the U.S. and European retail prices, sometimes well over 50%. An online pharmacy can offer the convenience of bringing the counter to your fingertips, wherever you need, whenever you like.

In reality, many prescription drugs bought at U.S. pharmacies are made overseas. According to the Newark Star-Ledger (May 2, 2008), "An estimated four out of 10 prescription drugs sold in the United States are manufactured abroad, and about 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used by U.S. manufacturers to make prescription drugs are imported." While major US and European pharmacy chains also have online stores that may have lower prices than their brick and mortar stores, the real savings are made possible when purchases are done from countries that have superior cost competitiveness, with India being the best example. It is estimated that Indian firms have costs calculated to be one-eighth in R&D (Research and Development) to one-fifth in manufacturing compared with Western firms (Grace 2004). Noteworthy is that U.S. has the highest drug prices in the world, and is one of few countries that does not control prices that drug-makers charge. This puts the uninsured, or 15.8 percent of the population, according to US census, and many that cannot afford the steep costs, at greatest risk. Online pharmacies becomes a viable alternative to assist this segment of the population. Meds India is a well established and reputable Indian pharmacy.

The Indian Industry

The pharmaceutical industry in India has made phenomenal progress in the past 10 years towards the center stage of the global pharmaceutical market. Noticeably, this industry is at an accelerated stage of growth ranking very high in terms of technology, quality and range of medicines manufactured, emerging as a global hub for the general pharmaceutical manufacture. It currently accounts for 8% of the global pharmaceutical production, making India the world’s 4th largest pharmaceutical producer. According to the 2008/09 report of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Products of India, OPPI, its industry enjoys a growth rate that can be rivaled nowhere in the developed world. It has grown from around USD 6.9 billion in 2002-03 to around 17.0 billion in 2007-08, and it is poised to grow to nearly USD 50 billion by 2015. India currently has around 119 US FDA and 84 UK MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) approved plants, with more US FDA-certified plants than any country outside North America. In addition, India has more than 200 pharmaceutical R&D units approved by its Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. India also offers abundant technical expertise through its large, highly educated pool of English-speaking skilled manpower, with around 50,000 pharmacists and 150,000 chemistry post graduates qualifying every year. As a result, the country is achieving an increased maturity in the clinical research segment to become the destination of choice for international investments on the field. It is expected to host 30% of the world's contract research within the next 10-15 years, according the India Brand Equity Foundation, IBEF. As reported by The Economic Times, 03/14/2009, by 2020 India is expected to become one of the top 5 pharma innovation hubs, with one out of every 5 to 10 drugs discovered worldwide coming from India.

Indian drugs are usually made there by world-class drug companies recognized for high quality including Wyeth, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. Also, leading Indian generic drug companies produce generic versions of many medications that they distribute for sale in their local market and abroad. These companies include firms Ranbaxy, CIPLA, Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Sun Pharma. With many strategic marketing partnerships and in-licensing cooperation these manufacturers often produce for US and European markets the same medications they produce for their local Indian market under different names, at much lower prices. The pills can look different, may have slight differences in inactive ingredients, but they have the same active ingredient, i.e. they are the same identical drug. It is same as buying its version in the US or Europe.

As far as the legality of purchasing drugs online is concerned, it depends on the specific kind and amount of drug being purchased. While it is illegal to purchase controlled substances from an overseas pharmacy, the non-controlled drug imported from a licensed pharmacy for personal use, not for resale, in quantities that do not exceed a 90-day supply, doesn't violate the provision 21 USC, Section 301 (AA) of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been focused on finding rogue pharmacies that sell counterfeit medications, not on tracking down a fixed-income 'grandma' who is buying cheaper drugs overseas for her personal use.

In Conclusion

Now you can get the same prescription drugs you buy at your local pharmacy, under a different name brand, at deep discounted Indian prices, delivered to you in the US and Europe or anywhere in the world from major Indian internet pharmacies, like MedsIndia.com, without a prescription.

Fexofenadine - What Is It?

Fexofenadine is an antihistamine drug which is used in the treating of allergy symptoms. When the antihistamine terfenadine had potentially serious contraindications, fexofenadine was developed as its successor. Fexofenadine does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, causing less drowsiness than first generation histamine receptor antagonists. Fexofenadine is an H1 receptor antagonist. Fexofenadine is indicated for relief of symptoms associated with seasonal allergic rhinitis and treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria.

A History

In studies, terfenadine, the older antihistiminic agent of the two, was found to metabolize into fexofenadine, a related carboxylic acid. Fexofenadine retained all of the biological activity of terfenadine while giving patients fewer negative side effects, hence the replacing of terfenadine by fexofenadine in the market. In 1993, fexofenadine was synthesized by Sepracor, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, which then sold the development rights to Hoechst Marion Roussel, now part of Sanofi-Aventis. Fexofenadine was later approved by the FDA in 1996.

Dosage

For children from 6 months to less than 2 years old who suffer from chronic idiopathic urticaria, the recommended dosage is 15 mg twice daily. For sufferers of seasonal allergic rhinitis, the recommended dosage is 30 mg twice daily for children 2-11 years old, 60 mg twice daily or 180 mg once daily for adults or children over 12 years old, and 60 mg once daily for elderly patients (adjust for renal impairment.) Administer with water only and not with fruit juices. This medication should be taken exactly as it was prescribed. The medication should not be taken in larger amounts, or taken for longer than recommended by a doctor. The tablet form should be taken with a full glass of water. No other type of liquid should be used. The oral suspension form should be shaken well immediately before a dose is measured. To be sure the correct dose is taken, the liquid should be measured with a marked measuring spoon or medicine cup, not with a regular table spoon. If no dose-measuring device is available, one should be obtained from the pharmacist.

The disintegrating tablet form should be taken on an empty stomach, at least 1 hour before a meal or 2 hours afterwards. A doctor should be informed if symptoms do not improve,or if they get worse after you start taking fexofenadine. Never take more fexofenadine than the doctor has prescribed.

If a dose is missed, the missed dose should be taken as soon as possible. If a dose is missed and it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at the next regularly scheduled time. Never take extra medicine to make up for the missed dose.

Common dosage forms are 6 mg/mL (30 mL, 300 mL) in suspension form. In tablet form, the dosages are 30 mg, 60 mg, and 180 mg. Fexofenadine should be stored at room temperature and away from moisture and heat. The medicine bottle should be kept tightly closed.

Side Effects

Common side effects include vomiting, nausea, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness, unusual bowel movements, diarrhea, and headache. When taken with fluoxetine, this drug may cause drowsiness.

Due to their infrequency, reports of the effects of a fexofenadine overdose are not well established. In tests on mice, no deaths occurred at 5000 mg/kg, which is 110 times the maximum recommended dose for an adult human. Further research shows no deaths in rats at the same concentration, which is equal to 400 times the recommended dose for an adult human. Research on humans ranges from a single 800 mg dose, to a 690 mg dose twice daily for a month, with no significant negative side effects in comparison to a placebo. If an overdose does occur, seek emergency medical attention. Overdose symptoms may include dry mouth, dizziness, or drowsiness.

Donepezil - Alzheimer's Medication Information

Donepezil is a centrally acting reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. It is marketed under the trade name Aricept by its developers Eisai and Pfizer. Its primary use is in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease where it is used to increase cortical acetylcholine. It easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and has an oral bio-availability of 100%. Since it has a half life of about 70 hours, it can be taken once a day. The initial dose is 5 mg per day, which can be increased to 10 mg per day after an adjustment period of at least one month. There is no definitive proof that use of donepezil alters the course or progression of Alzheimer's disease. However, six different 12 month controlled studies have shown some benefits in cognition and/or behavior. Pilot studies have also reported that donepezil therapy may have effects on hippocampal volume and other markers of disease progression. Therefore, many neurologists, psychiatrists, and primary care physicians use donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The drug is indicated for mild to moderate Alzheimer's, but there is evidence from 2 trials that it may be effective for moderate to severe disease as well.

Indications

Donepezil has been tested in other cognitive disorders such as vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia, but it is not currently approved for these indications. Donepezil has also been found to improved sleep apnea in some Alzheimer's patients.

Donepezil has been studied in patients with attention deficit disorder, mild cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, cognitive impairment associated with multiple sclerosis, post-coronary bypass cognitive impairment, and Down syndrome. Recent studies have suggested that donepezil can improve speech in children with autism. The studies found that speech of austistic children who were mild to moderately affected appeared to improve from the use of the drug.

Donepezil is known to improve the function of nerve cells in the brain. It works by preventing the breakdown of the chemical acetylcholine. Sufferers of dementia generally have lower levels of this chemical, which is a key factor in the processes of memory, thinking, and reasoning.

Do not take this medication if you are allergic to it. Before taking donepezil, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have a heart rhythm disorder, a history of stomach ulcers, an enlarged prostate or urination problems, epilepsy or other seizure disorder, or if you have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take donepezil.

This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. It is important to tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. It is unknown whether the drug passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. If you are breast-feeding a baby, do not use this medication without first telling your doctor. This medication should be taken exactly as it is prescribed. Do not take the medication in larger amounts than prescribed, or take it for longer than recommended by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

Side Effects

Common side effects include bradycardia, nausea, diarrhea, anorexia, abdominal pain, and vivid dreams.

Be sure to get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: difficulty breathing; hives; swelling of the face, tongue, lips, or throat. Stop using donepezil and call your doctor at once if you have any serious side effects including painful or difficult urination, seizure, black, bloody, or tarry stools, or if you cough up blood or vomit that looks like blood or coffee grounds.

Less serious side effects may include muscle cramps, loss of appetite, insomnia, feeling tired, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

Fluconazole - Antifungal Medication Information

Fluconazole is an antifungal drug used in the treatment and prevention of superficial and systemic fungal infections which can invade parts of the body including the mouth, lungs, throat, bladder, esophagus, genitals, and the blood. It is also used to prevent fungal infection in people with weak immune systems which can be caused by cancer treatment, bone marrow transplants, or diseases such as AIDS. Fluconazole is not for treating viral infections such as the common cold or flu.

Indications

In a bulk powder form, it appears as a white crystalline powder, and it is very slightly soluble in water and soluble in alcohol. It is commonly marketed under the trade name Diflucan or Trican by Pfizer.

Fluconazole is almost completely absorbed within two hours following oral dosing. The absence of stomach acid does not significantly affect bioavailability. Patients with impaired renal function are at risk of overdose as well as patients who are being treated with drugs such as warfarin.

Before taking fluconazole, consult with a doctor if you have allergic reactions to any drugs, or if you have a heart rhythm disorder, kidney disease, liver disease, or a personal or family history of "Long QT syndrome."

This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby so a doctor should be consulted if you are pregnant or have plans to become pregnant during treatment. Fluconazole can pass into your breast milk and may harm a nursing baby.

Fluconazole has also sometimes been associated with severe or lethal hepatotoxicity, therefore liver function tests are usually performed regularly during extended fluconazole therapy. Fluconazole is also used with caution in patients with liver disease.

This medication should be taken exactly as it was prescribed. It is important not to take the medication in larger amounts, or take it for longer than recommended by a doctor. Fluconazole should be taken with a full glass of water. The oral suspension should be shaken well before a dose is measured. In order to get the correct dose, the liquid should be measured with a marked measuring spoon or medicine cup, and not with a regular table spoon. If a dose-measuring device is not available, ask your pharmacist for one. The medication should be taken for the entire length of time prescribed by a doctor since symptoms may get better before the infection is completely treated. Tablets should be stored at room temperature away from moisture and heat. Liquid fluconazole can be stored in a refrigerator, but should not be allowed to freeze. If there is any leftover medicine after 2 weeks, it should be discarded.

Side Effects

Emergency medical help should be sought if you have any signs of an allergic reaction such as hives, swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat, or difficulty breathing.

Call your doctor at once if you have any serious side effects such as easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness, seizure, fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, severe blistering, peeling, red skin rash, nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, or jaundice.

Less serious side effects can include dizziness, unusual or unpleasant taste in the mouth, skin rash or itching, headache, mild nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or upset stomach.

Ketoconazole - Antifungal Medication Information

Ketoconazole is a synthetic antifungal drug used to prevent and treat skin and fungal infections, especially in patients with compromised immune systems such as those with the AIDS virus. Ketoconazole is usually prescribed for topical infections such as athlete's foot, yeast infection, ringworm, and jock itch. Ketoconazole is also used to treat eumycetoma, the fungal form of mycetoma. Anti-dandruff shampoo containing ketoconazole is sold commercially under the brand names Perkhotal by Gepach International, and Nizoral, by Johnson & Johnson. The shampoo version of ketoconazole can be used as a body wash for treating the skin condition known as tinea versicolor.

How It Works

Ketoconazole leads to accumulation in fatty tissues. The triazole compounds fluconazole and itraconazole are less toxic and more effective and therefore they have largely replaced ketoconazole for internal use. Ketoconazole is best absorbed at high acid levels, therefore antacids or other things which cause decreased stomach acid levels will lower the drug's absorption when it is taken orally.

Indications

Ketoconazole's side effects are sometimes used to treat non-fungal ailments. Ketoconazole causes a decrease in testosterone which makes it useful for treating prostate cancer and for preventing erections following penile surgery. Another use for the drug is the suppression of glucocorticoid synthesis, making it useful in the treatment of Cushing's disease. The drug's side effects have also been studied for reducing depressive symptoms and drug addiction.

Using patented Versafoam technology, ketoconazole is also marketed as a topical mousse marketed under the brand name Ketomousse. In clinical studies, Versafoam has proven to be a superior mechanism of delivery to the ketoconazole shampoo. It is currently only available in European countries.

The anti-dandruff shampoo forumation of ketoconazole is designed for people who have more serious dandruff problems where symptoms include constant flaking, and severe itchiness.

In high doses, ketoconazole has shown to cause teratogenesis in animal testing. Until recently, there were only two human test cases on record and no negative side-effects were reported, but the test cases were not thorough enough to draw any meaningful conclusions. A subsequent trial failed to show any risk to infants of mothers using the drug.

Ketoconazole is sometimes prescribed by veterinarians for use on pets, often as high dose tablets that may need to be cut to smaller sizes for correct dosage. Structurally, ketoconazole is similar to imidazole, and interferes with the fungal synthesis of cell membrane constituents as well as some types of enzymes.

As with some other antifungal agents, ketoconazole works on principal by inhibiting an enzyme called cytochrome P450 14-alpha-demethylase. This enzyme resides in the sterol biosynthesis pathway that leads from lanosterol to ergosterol. Fluconazole has been found to have a greater affinity for fungal cell membrane than does ketoconazole, therefore lower doses of these drugs are required to kill fungi.

Side Effects

It is important to seek emergency medical help if any signs of an allergic reaction occur including swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat, hives, or difficulty breathing.

A doctor must be consulted with at once if any serious side effects occur including easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness, numbness or tingly feeling, dizziness, fainting, fast or pounding heartbeat, severe depression, confusion, or thoughts of hurting yourself, nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, weakness, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice.

Less serious side effects from using ketoconazole may include mild itching or skin rash, dizziness, headache, impotence or loss of interest in sex, breast swelling, mild nausea, vomiting, or stomach pain.