Application areas
Tecfidera® has two main areas of application. Firstly, it is used in multiple sclerosis and secondly, a chemically very similar fumaric acid under the name Fumaderm® is used in psoriasis. In the therapy of multiple sclerosis, the main focus during the application of Tecfidera® is on the reduced number of attacks.
Like multiple sclerosis, psoriasis is also a chronic inflammatory disease. In the course of this disease, the epidermis grows abnormally fast, resulting in large areas of scaly skin. These skin areas are very dry and cause the affected person a great deal of suffering due to a persistent itching.
Fumaderm® can also have a soothing effect on the immune system due to its throttling effect. However, the exact mechanism by which the drug exerts its effect is also not yet sufficiently known. Fumaderm® has been approved for the treatment of psoriasis for many years, while the approval for therapy with a fumaric acid for multiple sclerosis was only obtained years later.
Pharmaceutical forms and dosages
If patients are taking a drug, it can in principle always happen that hypersensitivity reactions, allergies or in the worst case an allergic shock occurs. These side effects are also possible with Tecfidera®, as everyone reacts differently to different active ingredients in medicines. Other common side effects while taking Tecfidera® are hot flushes and the so-called flush.
The term flush refers to a sudden reddening of the face that is accompanied by a strong sensation of heat. Symptoms affecting the digestive tract are also common during therapy with Tecfidera®. Nausea, stomach cramps or diarrhoea are examples of such complaints.
Side effects such as kidney damage are described less frequently. Another side effect that also occurs is a drop in various blood cell counts. For example, leukopenia and lymphopenia have been repeatedly diagnosed.
Both terms refer to a reduced number of cells. Leukopenia refers to the leukocytes (white blood cells), which are responsible for the immune defense. Patients with leukopenia are therefore more susceptible to infectious diseases than healthy people.
For example, they may get colds more easily or suffer from more serious diseases such as pneumonia. The white blood cells also include lymphocytes as a subgroup, which are responsible for the production of antibodies and the destruction of invading pathogens. So if a patient has lymphopenia, this has a similar effect to leukopenia, the immune system is extremely weakened and infectious diseases have an easy time of it. For the reasons mentioned above, patients treated with Tecfidera® must be regularly monitored by laboratory checks of their blood values.
