%0 Journal Article
%T Combined analgesics in (headache) pain therapy: shotgun approach or precise multi-target therapeutics?
%A Andreas Straube
%A Bernhard Aicher
%A Bernd L Fiebich
%A Gunther Haag
%J BMC Neurology
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2377-11-43
%X In this article, we discuss the available literature on the effects of several fixed-dose combinations in the treatment of headaches and discuss the evidence in support of the role of combination therapy in the pharmacotherapy of pain, particularly of headaches. The scientific rationale behind multi-target combinations is the therapeutic benefit that could not be achieved by the individual constituents and that the single substances of the combinations act together additively or even multiplicatively and cooperate to achieve a completeness of the desired therapeutic effect.As an example the fixesd-dose combination of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), paracetamol (acetaminophen) and caffeine is reviewed in detail. The major advantage of using such a fixed combination is that the active ingredients act on different but distinct molecular targets and thus are able to act on more signalling cascades involved in pain than most single analgesics without adding more side effects to the therapy.Multitarget therapeutics like combined analgesics broaden the array of therapeutic options, enable the completeness of the therapeutic effect, and allow doctors (and, in self-medication with OTC medications, the patients themselves) to customize treatment to the patient's specific needs. There is substantial clinical evidence that such a multi-component therapy is more effective than mono-component therapies.Almost everybody will probably suffer from acute pain during their lifetime. Pain is a fundamental and central life experience, a counterbalance to pleasure, a warning of danger, and a reminder to protect injured limbs and tissues while they heal [1]. The perception of pain is essential for survival and thus it is not surprising that humans with loss of pain sensation due to a mutation within the Na 1.7 channel gene [2] die at a young age. While in the past pain was seen as a relatively simple symptom, it is becoming increasingly clear that, from the molecular-biological mechanisms to
%K analgesics
%K fixed-dose combinations
%K headache
%K multi-target therapeutics
%K migraine
%K over-the-counter (OTC)
%K pain
%K side effects
%K tension-type headache
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/11/43