Pathophysiological intervention

Enzymes are excellent targets for pharmacological intervention, owing to their essential roles in life processes and pathophysiology. 

Hanson, M., Pathophysiology, Foundations of Disease and Clinical Intervention, W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1998. 

Pathophysiology. Research into the pathophysiology of primary dystonia has demonstrated that this disorder is associated with widespread loss of inhibition and a loss of specificity in sensorimotor maps at the cortical level. The notion that dystonia may result from aberrant plasticity in susceptible individuals is also indirectly supported by the observation that the beneficial effect of neurosurgical interventions for dystonia, such as pallidotomy or DBS, is typically delayed for several weeks or months. 

One of the key intentions of genomic researches is to discover and functionally illnstrate the protein constituents of the hnman orgatusm, thus providing a valuable basis for therapeutic intervention into pathophysiological mechanisms, currently... 

Malnutrition, and its ultimate form cachexia, are encountered every day in cancer and haematology wards. Malnutrition results from the parasitic metabolism of the tumour at the expense of the host, from the impact of the tumour on the metabolism of the host... The major consequence is an increased risk of complications and death during the course of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and major surgery. It is thus important to offer nutritional support, in order to stop or reverse the process of malnutrition. Nutritional intervention should be founded on the abundant literature devoted to cancer cachexia, including the pathophysiology of the disease. .. 

As dopamine deficiency of the nigrostriatal tract, resulting in an overactivity of cholinergic interneurons, is considered to be the fundamental pathophysiological mechanism for Parkinson s disease two approaches for pharmacological intervention seem rational. 

Well-designed prospective investigations will be required to elucidate the pathophysiology of recurrent episodes of MDD. While waiting for data from such investigations, clinicians should recognize that effective interventions are available in the form of maintenance antidepressant medications. 

The usual definition of a neuroprotectant is an agent that aims to prevent neuronal death by inhibiting one or more of the pathophysiological steps in the processes that follow injury to the central nervous system (CNS) or ischemia due to occlusion of an artery or hypoxia due to any cause. This definition has now been extended to include protection against neurodegeneration and neurotoxins. The extended definition includes interventions that slows or halts the progression of neuronal degeneration. 

Yeung, A. (2004) Vulnerable Plaque Pathophysiology, Detection and Therapeutic Intervention, Cardiovascular Research Foundation 16th Annual Scientific Meeting of Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), Washington, DC. 

To understand the evolution of therapy of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which includes unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and interventional therapy— percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), it is most useful to trace the historical events that provided a rationale for the use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs, The focus of this chapter is upon the explosion in knowledge of the physiology of the hemostatic mechanism and will trace the rational development of therapy based upon the pathophysiology of the ACS over the past 40 years. 

---