Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Augmentation (pharmacology)

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Augmentation, in the context of the pharmacological management of Psychiatry, refers to the combination of two or more drugs to achieve better treatment results. Examples of use include:

  • Prescribing an atypical antipsychotic when someone is already taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of depression.
  • Prescribing estrogen for someone already being treated with antipsychotics for the management of Schizophrenia.
  • Giving an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist on top of existing treatment for Parkinson's disease. Note that this is not in the field of Psychiatry.

    • In other field of Pharmacology, the term is occasionally used to describe treatments that increase (augment) the concentration of some substance in the body. This might be done when someone is deficient in a hormone, enzyme or other endogenous substance. For example:

  • To give α1 antitrypsin to someone who is deficient in α1 antitrypsin.

    • References

    Augmentation (pharmacology) Wikipedia
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