Frovatriptan belongs to an innovative family of compounds aimed at breaking through the long-standing barrier of migraine headache understanding and treatment. While a typology of headaches has been recognized for some time, and a number of therapies have been introduced for reduction of headache pain and duration, the causes of migraine remain a subject of debate. Those prone to attacks continue to endure them and suffer the related symptoms such as nausea and disorientation. Frovatriptan, like all the triptans, acts by inducing vasoconstriction of the meningeal arteries. It has been shown in pharmacological tests to act selectively as a potent agonist of serotonin 5-HT1B/1D receptors. Frovatriptan has been well tolerated in humans and efficacious in reducing headache pain and duration in clinical trials, which have also indicated that dose adjustments for age or gender are not necessary for the drug. Patients have found the use of frovatriptan acceptable over the long-term, and overall a low-incidence of adverse effects has been reported. Though not a prophylactic, frovatriptan has demonstrated the potential to significantly improve the therapeutic approaches to the treatment of migraine.
Copyright 2002 Prous Science