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Advancing pharmacotherapy for treating Huntington's disease : a review of the existing literature

Mason, Sarah L and Barker, Roger A LU (2016) In Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy 17(1). p.41-52
Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable chronic neurodegenerative disorder that typically presents in mid-life with a range of motor, cognitive and affective problems. Patients are currently managed using a combination of drug treatments and non-pharmacological therapies but at present there is no "gold standard" treatment for any aspect of the disease.

AREAS COVERED: In this review the empirical evidence supporting the use of drugs commonly used to treat HD was discussed. In particular, we focus on therapeutics that have either reached phase 3 clinical trials or are already in clinical use.

EXPERT OPINION: The results confirmed that there is a striking lack of evidence to support the efficacy of the drugs... (More)

INTRODUCTION: Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable chronic neurodegenerative disorder that typically presents in mid-life with a range of motor, cognitive and affective problems. Patients are currently managed using a combination of drug treatments and non-pharmacological therapies but at present there is no "gold standard" treatment for any aspect of the disease.

AREAS COVERED: In this review the empirical evidence supporting the use of drugs commonly used to treat HD was discussed. In particular, we focus on therapeutics that have either reached phase 3 clinical trials or are already in clinical use.

EXPERT OPINION: The results confirmed that there is a striking lack of evidence to support the efficacy of the drugs currently used in the management of HD. In fact, many drugs are prescribed on the basis of case reports, open label studies, small double blind placebo control trials of limited duration, or personal clinical experience. However of late, the establishment of large international databases, capturing all patients and their clinical details regardless of stage or geographical location has led to an increase in the number of clinical trials conducted on new therapies. Unfortunately, the same is not true for the existing therapies which look set to remain untested for the foreseeable future.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Humans, Huntington Disease, Journal Article, Review
in
Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
volume
17
issue
1
pages
12 pages
publisher
Informa Healthcare
external identifiers
  • pmid:26536068
  • scopus:84955658817
ISSN
1744-7666
DOI
10.1517/14656566.2016.1109630
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
1b5f7b35-c448-428a-9de9-5e518b1e5d23
date added to LUP
2016-11-23 13:18:22
date last changed
2024-01-04 16:58:45
@article{1b5f7b35-c448-428a-9de9-5e518b1e5d23,
  abstract     = {{<p>INTRODUCTION: Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable chronic neurodegenerative disorder that typically presents in mid-life with a range of motor, cognitive and affective problems. Patients are currently managed using a combination of drug treatments and non-pharmacological therapies but at present there is no "gold standard" treatment for any aspect of the disease.</p><p>AREAS COVERED: In this review the empirical evidence supporting the use of drugs commonly used to treat HD was discussed. In particular, we focus on therapeutics that have either reached phase 3 clinical trials or are already in clinical use.</p><p>EXPERT OPINION: The results confirmed that there is a striking lack of evidence to support the efficacy of the drugs currently used in the management of HD. In fact, many drugs are prescribed on the basis of case reports, open label studies, small double blind placebo control trials of limited duration, or personal clinical experience. However of late, the establishment of large international databases, capturing all patients and their clinical details regardless of stage or geographical location has led to an increase in the number of clinical trials conducted on new therapies. Unfortunately, the same is not true for the existing therapies which look set to remain untested for the foreseeable future.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mason, Sarah L and Barker, Roger A}},
  issn         = {{1744-7666}},
  keywords     = {{Humans; Huntington Disease; Journal Article; Review}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{41--52}},
  publisher    = {{Informa Healthcare}},
  series       = {{Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy}},
  title        = {{Advancing pharmacotherapy for treating Huntington's disease : a review of the existing literature}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1517/14656566.2016.1109630}},
  doi          = {{10.1517/14656566.2016.1109630}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}