What Doctors Don't Tell YouAnd speaking of new drugs, murmurs in the press have arisen about side effects of Glaxo’s new wonder migraine drug sumatriptan on the eve of its launch in the UK.
According to Mims Magazine, in vitro studies have suggested that sumatriptan could constrict coronary blood vessels.
A Glaxo spokesman denies that any studies in humans have shown the drug has such an effect.
Nevertheless, according to Mims, patients have reported “sensations of warmth and tingling”, possibly linked to the drug’s effect on blood vessels.
A Glaxo spokesman was quoted as saying, “These are a signal that there is some effect on the vasculature, but the sensations are transient and not related to changes in cardiac circulation.”
Sumatriptan is a 5-hydroxytryptamine analogue, which works by blocking 5HT/serotonin, a brain chemical thought to have a primary role in migraine.
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
