On Beating a Dead Horse

The failure of exubera: are we beating a dead horse?

Inhalation of insulin appears to have become an alternative for the subcutaneous injection of insulin for the time being. However, the recent withdrawal of one product that had already reached the marketplace or others that were close to approval raised severe concerns about the future of the pulmonary route for insulin administration. In view of the progress made with respect to the size of th...

On a not-dead horse: CPP deserves more respect.

Extracorporeal lung assist: more than kicking a dead horse?

U p to now, the history of extracorporeal lung support has been a tale of great expectations and even greater disappointments. In 1972, HILL et al. [1] published the first case report on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in a young patient who suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) after trauma. At that time, mortality rates from ARDS were extremely high an...

Effect of albumin on phenytoin concentration: are we flogging a dead horse?

C JHP – Vol. 64, No. 4 – July–August 2011 JCPH – Vol. 64, n 4 – juillet–août 2011 References 1. Dubrey SW, Banner N. Home inotrope treatment for intractable heart failure following heart transplantation. Heart 1999;82(2):248-251. 2. Jiménez J, Jara J, Bednar B, Bauerlein J, Mallon S. Long-term (> 8 weeks) home inotropic therapy as destination therapy in patients with advanced heart failure or a...

Combined treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARB): ‘Beating a dead horse’ or meaningful mechanism-guided therapy?

I read with great interest the recent editorial, by Gautam and Aditya, and the ‘Letters to the Editor’, by Tandon and Sharma, et al. dealing with the pros and cons of combining ACE inhibitors with ARBs. The involvement of the renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) in various pathologies is well recognised. The inhibition of either production of angiotensin-II via ACE inhibition or blockage of the delet...