Treatment
If no specific therapy is initiated, in 94% of patients the disease is fatal within 10–20 years following diagnosis.
- Currently, benzimidazoles (such as albendazole) are used to treat AE: only halt their proliferation and do not actually kill the parasites, side effects such as liver damage
- 2-ME2, a natural metabolite of estradiol, is tested with some results in vitro: decreased transcription of 14-3-3-pro-tumorogenic zeta-isoform, causes damage to germinal layer but does not kill parasite in vivo
- Treatment with a combination of albendazole/2-ME2 showed best results in reducing parasite burden
- Despite the improvements in the chemotherapy of echinococcosis with benzimidazole derivatives, complete elimination of the parasitic mass cannot be achieved in most of the infected patients, although there have been studies that indicate that long-term treatment with mebendazole may cause the death of the parasite.
Read more about this topic: Echinococcus Multilocularis
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“If the study of all these sciences, which we have enumerated, should ever bring us to their mutual association and relationship, and teach us the nature of the ties which bind them together, I believe that the diligent treatment of them will forward the objects which we have in view, and that the labor, which otherwise would be fruitless, will be well bestowed.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)
“[17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)