Dr. James Chin, CEO Prostaderm
The use of a skin patch was first introduced in 1980 with the development of a motion-sickness patch. However, this concept was not widely accepted until the nicotine patch was introduced (1996). The transdermal patch works by allowing medicine easy access to the bloodstream through thousands of capillaries close to the surface of the skin. This increases drug effectiveness and offers a host of other advantages over traditionally administered oral medications.For example, patches are useful for patients who have difficulty swallowing. Patches don’t have the problem of inconsistent absorption via the gastrointestinal lining, and they can help people avoid many side effects that some pills can cause. Patch medication also avoids the delay and side effects of having to pass through the stomach and the liver before reaching the target tissues. And less medicine may be needed to get a similar effect because of the patch’s proximity to the bloodstream. Plus, busy patients don’t have to worry about forgetting to take their medicine. They just slap on the patch and go.
Is a Patch Right for You?
PROS: Avoids common side effects of pills. The patch gets into the bloodstream more quickly than oral medications, achieving faster effectiveness than with pill versions. Because the medication bypasses the gastrointestinal tract and liver, it goes directly into the bloodstream and cause fewer gastrointestinal problems than the pill version.
CONS:
Can’t be exposed to the sunlight, must be worn under clothing;
may cause skin irritation,
Because of the reduced frequency of administration, compliance should be enhanced with transdermal delivery. Most patches need to be changed once or twice per week. Delivery of drug via a transdermal route also avoids the hostile environment of the gastrointestinal tract, where drugs can be inactivated and absorption can vary depending on pH, food ingestion/interaction, and other local factors. In addition, some oral medications may cause nausea because of local effects, and some cannot be taken if the patient is already nauseated.Oral medications are subjected to first-pass metabolism in the liver. This can lead to breakdown of the parent compound into a less active or more toxic metabolite(s), drug-drug interactions (because there is competition for enzymatic pathways), or hepatic toxicity.
- The convenience and reduced side-effect profile associated with transdermal delivery of medicines have made this method of drug delivery more popular than oral therapy among many patients.
- Adverse events associated with transdermal therapy are primarily related to local skin reactions, which can be nonimmunologic or allergic and are most often mild to moderate in severity.
In Summary, if the condition can be treated and the same results can be obtained by either using the patch or ingesting a pill, it would seem logical to use a patch over the pill. For obvious reasons, adverse events would be minimized, efficacy would be achieved and the need for continued maintenance (e.g. remembering to take a pill every day) would be a thing of the past.
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