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Sunday, April 11, 2010

The Sneeze Drug

Some drugs have wacky names! I was reviewing some Pharm today and I came across the drug Eptifibatide. It sounds like you're sneezing if you say it like this EPTI-fibatide!

I spent almost an hour laughing about this today. I don't know if it's the long stressful hours of studying that have induced a mania-like state, or perhaps I was stressing about memorizing this hard-to-remember drug that my ego decided to use humor as a defense mechanism...but wait, defense mechanisms are supposed to be unconscious...so if I'm thinking about it being a defense mechanism, then it probably isn't right? But does this statement hold for medical students and doctors, who are aware of the use of defense mechanisms? I'd like to know the answer to that.

Well, now that you've read about the drug that sounds like a sneeze, EPTI-fibatide, I might as well tell you what it is. It is an antiplatelet drug that acts as an antagonist on gp IIb/IIIa (receptors for fibrinogen, required for platelet adhesion). Note that this is the same receptor that is deficient in Glanzmann's disease.

I hope this helps!

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