Lariam Anti-Malaria Treatment. 'the Benefits Outweigh The Drawbacks...'

[sandyRoe]

Somebody said that on a Radio 4 programme this morning.
That may well be the case but the question should have been: 'Is there an equally as effective product available which doesn't have the 'drawbacks?'.

[sandyRoe]

Here's the link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33943282

[Svejk]

I imagine the MOD medical dept. look into all these things, in some depth, Sandy. I should leave it in their hands unless you have evidence that suggests we shouldn't.

[sandyRoe]

There are people quoted in the link who seem to have some knowledge of this. I think my question is a fair one. Are there any treatments available which are as good but don't have the reported side effects?

[Sqad]

\\\\Mefloquine was banned from being given to US Special Forces in 2013, but in the UK it remains the drug of choice for military personnel in malarial areas. It is backed by Public Health England\\\

Clearly there is a concern here and in my opinion it should be banned until further studies have been conducted on the drug.

[Svejk]

Apparently, the Americans conducted a trial with/survey of 400,000 soldiers using this drug and found no evidence of increased risks. But still, perhaps for reasons of their own, as you say, banned it.

[Sqad]

Sorry, we seem to have cross posted.

Yes.....Malarone.

Because Malarone contains atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride, the type and severity of adverse reactions associated with each of the compounds may be expected. The lower prophylactic doses of Malarone were better tolerated than the higher treatment doses.

Depends if you are comparing treatment or prophylaxis. The treatment of malaria with Malarone seems to have the sam side effects or similar as Larium, BUT Malarone "seems" to be safer for long term use (prophylaxis).

[jno]

yes, there have been lots of stories about the problems of Lariam over the years, including depression, hallucinations and "psychotic episodes" (perhaps they should give it to soldiers the night before the battle). it was actually developed by the US army, but they had to stop using it. There's some background here

http://nation.time.com/2012/12/05/the-lariam-debatecontinues/

It works well for most people but there's a significant minority for whom it causes problems, and the problems can be severe: not just mental ones but pneumonia or liver damage (it's not recommended that you drink while taking it). I've never taken it, for this reason. I don't think it's right to tell British soldiers to take it.

[sandyRoe]

Is there an alternative treatment?

[Sqad]

sandy..see my 9.07 post.

[jno]

yes, I take Malarone on the rare occasions I'm going somewhere mosquitoey.

[Svejk]

^Is that a 'real' word, jno?

[sandyRoe]

A good soldier, Svejk, shouldn't be denied the best and safest treatment. Let them have Malarone.

[Svejk]

Lol, Good Soldier Svejk says you're jumping to conclusions that one is 'better', overall, than t'other.
Are you thinking (or knowing) that one costs more than the other and that might be the reason for the MOD decision.

[sandyRoe]

There were lightly armoured Land Rovers used in NI that offered ample protection from stone throwers. They weren't much use against IEDs when they were deployed in Iraq. Cost was a consideration then. I hope the health of this generation of service people isn't being endangered because of the concerns of bean counters in Whitehall.

[mikey4444]

I heard the debate on the "Today Program" as well this morning Sandy, and I thought the anti-Lariam case was very well made.

As there appears to be other solutions available, which don't have these serious side effects, there doesn't seem much of a case for continuing to use Lariam any more,

Well, apart from the fact that the MOD have 100,000's of courses of Lariam left !

So in the end, its a financial issue, not a medical one.

[jno]

Svejk, yes

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mosquitoey

[Svejk]

Teach me to take the p1zz. ;)

[atalanta]

I used to do medical information work, and one day I found a list of side-effects of Lariam. One of them was listed as - "death".