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Title: Patients With Poor Response to Loratadine Do Better With Azelastine: Presented at AAO-HNSF

"Patients With Poor Response to Loratadine Do Better With Azelastine: Presented at AAO-HNSF"

By Ed Susman ORLANDO, FL -- October 7, 2003 -- People who fail to get seasonal allergic-rhinitis relief from loratadine (Claritin) appear to do better if they are taking azelastine (Astelin Nasal Spray). "[Azelastine] is an effective treatment for patients with an inadequate response to loratadine," said Martha White, MD, director of research, Institute for Allergy and Asthma, Wheaton, Maryland, United States. "And [it] is an alternative to switching to another oral antihistamine or to using multiple antihistamines or intranasal steroids." In her recent study, reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, Dr. White described 428 patients who completed 14 days of therapy after being assigned to receive azelastine alone, azelastine and loratadine, loratadine alone or placebo. All three of the active treatments were superior to placebo in measuring the total Nasal Symptom Score. The two azelastine arms of the study reached significance at the P<0.01 level when compared to placebo; the loratadine arm reached significance at the P<0.05 level. In the assessment of mean improvement from baseline in the Total Nasal Symptom Score, however, only the azelastine and the combination arm achieved significance when compared to placebo, Dr. White reported. The improvement in scores was nearly identical in the azelastine and combination arms. In the azelastine arm, the mean improvement in scores was 1.87 points; in the azelastine -loratadine arm, the improvement was 1.91 points. "The combination of Astelin Nasal Spray plus Claritin was not more effective than treatment with Astelin Nasal Spray alone," Dr. White reported. Patients were recruited into the study if they had been taking loratadine for seasonal allergic rhinitis for a week without achieving adequate relief from symptoms such as rhinorrhoea, sneezing, itchy nose and nasal congestion. In addition to helping the patients feel better, Dr. White said the use of azelastine was able to accomplish the improvement without unwanted side effects. "Astelin Nasal Spray was well tolerated," she said. "Somnolence was reported by 2% of patients with Astelin Nasal Spray and by 1% of patients treated with placebo." This study was funded by MedPointe Pharmaceuticals, Somerset, New Jersey, United States. [Study title: Efficacy Of Astelin Nasal Spray In Patients With An Unsatisfactory Response To Claritin.]

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