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While some organizations and individual practitioners are very careful in their efforts to be vague, or even tangentially, on the relationship between PPH (hypertension Primary pulmonary) and fen-phen, others show openly what is known about this association.
Ronald J. Oudiz, MD, Director of pulmonary hypertension, Professor Associate, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center indicated (eMedicine) that:
PPH (primary pulmonary hypertension), more recently, called IPAH (idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension) was associated with anorexigens and other alpha-adrenergic stimulants (fen-phen). How these associated conditions predispose to or cause PPH remains unknown.
In the U.S., IPAH (PPH) is responsible for approximately 125-150 deaths per year.
Typically, young women of childbearing age develop IPAH (PPH). However, it can affect women in their fifth and sixth decades of life or more.
The mortality rate of untreated IPAH (PPH) is approximately 50% at 3 years (depending on the severity on the display).
The American Heart Association indicates that an estimated 500 to 1,000 new cases of PPH are diagnosed each year in the United States. The highest number reported in women between the ages of 20 and 40. However, men and women of all ages and very young children to develop PPH.
Appetite suppressants (fen-phen) are among the factors considered to trigger constriction or narrowing of the pulmonary artery.
A website dedicated to information about primary pulmonary hypertension States that PPH or pulmonary arterial hypertension can be linked to diet drug fen-phen:
A significant association between use of fen-phen diet drug and HPP. Studies have shown that it may be several years (ten or more) after having stopped taking diet drugs that patients develop the disease.
The American Lung Association reports that in 2000 there were 3065 deaths attributed to PPH. This organization also states: The use of certain appetite suppressants (fen-phen) was found to increase the risk of developing PPH, especially use lasting more than three months.
They report that studies estimate that the treatment with certain appetite suppressant drugs (fen-phen) increases the risk of postpartum hemorrhage of approximately 1 to 28 cases per million person-years (one person-year represents a patient treated for one year). Two drugs associated with PPH, fenfluramine (a component of the fen-phen) and dexfenfluramine, were removed from the market in September 1997 after being linked to heart condition.
The arterial National Heart Lung and Blood Institute identifies factors that appear to increase chances of developing pulmonary hypertension (pulmonary hypertension. These include the use of appetite suppressants, particularly fenfluramine (fen-phen) and dexfenfluramine.
About the Author:
Nick Johnson is lead counsel with Johnson Law Group. Johnson represents plaintiffs in many states and focuses on injury cases involving Fen-Phen and PPH, Paxil, Mesothelioma and Nursing Home Abuse. Call 1-888-311-5522 today or visit http://www.jbclawfirm.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – What Doctors Are Saying About Primary Pulmonary Hypertension and Fen-Phen
