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> Well, if medications had more unique names wouldn't hurt either. Two separate antidepressants: Escitalopram and Citalopram. And pronounced, they sound almost
by chimeracoder 9y ago
> Well, if medications had more unique names wouldn't hurt either. Two separate antidepressants: Escitalopram and Citalopram. And pronounced, they sound almost the same as well.
The names only sound confusingly similar to people unfamiliar with them - for physicians and pharmacists, it's rare to confuse them.
The similarity in the names is actually intentional and a feature. For example, erythromycin and azithromycin have the same suffix and similar prefixes, which is an indicator that, not only do they belong to the same class, but one is a derivative of the other.
It's been a while since I studied this, but based on the names alone, I would be willing to bet that Escitalopram is an S-enantiomer of Citalopram - ie, a mirror image of the drug (or an isolation of one of the two mirror images present in the latter). If you say it out loud, it's almost a mnemonic pun.
I could also guess that's an SSRI based on the "pram" suffix, though admittedly you made that easier by mentioning it was an antidepressant in the first place.
INN names (like citalopram) are actually incredibly well-designed for the intended user (a pharmacist or physician, not a patient). I wish engineering terms had the same level of consistency.
Edit: Turns out I was right. Both are SSRIs, and the former is the S-enantiomer of the latter.
- clebio 9y agoe.g. learn Latin. Or Greek. Or whatever it is that 10 fking years in med school actually gives SMEs in that field. Autoincorrect isn't an expert system, and it's behaving like one. Thank you for the detailed example.
- rspeer 9y agoIt's not Latin or Greek, it's specifically designed technical terminology.
- jdale27 9y agoTurns out I was right. Both are SSRIs, and the former is the S-enantiomer of the latter. Not exactly. You're right that escitalopram is the S-enantiomer; citalopram is the racemic mixture of R- and S-enantiomers (of which only S- has the antidepressant effect).
- bonzini 9y agoHe said "an isolation of one of the two mirror images present in the latter".
- pygy_ 9y agoBTW, the enantiomer thing is a common trick used by the pharma industry to double the life of a patent. They first release the racemic mix, then the purified, active enantiomer once the original patent expires. The racemic mix usually has a slightly higher level of side effects.
- dmurray 9y agoI have heard this before and believe it, but I don't understand why it's not vulnerable to a competitor (perhaps a manufacturer specialising in generic drugs) releasing the version with only the active enantiomer. After all, it's not protected by patent.
- pygy_ 9y agoThat's a very good point and I don't know either. Possibly: the process to manufacture the molecules is also patented, and you must make the racemic mix to extract the active enantiomer. Not sure though.
- zkms 9y agoSpeaking of medication naming schemes; there's the one for monoclonal antibodies. Ever heard a weird name ending in "-mab"? Blame this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenclature_of_monoclonal_antibodies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenclature_of_monoclonal_ant...