The modern pharmaceutical industry is a truly vast one, and modern medicine allows patients of all kinds to find relief from nearly anything from the common cold and flu to more serious conditions such as diabetes and major allergies. When new drugs are developed, clinical trials are held, and scientists will gather data through studying various types of drug interference or calculate total allowable errors. This may include drugs for treating lipemia, among other conditions, and HAMA (human anti-mouse antibodies) is a factor worth considering. With that said, what is there to know about drug trials, HAMA, and lipemia in the context of modern science?
Drug Trials Done Right
Many drug trials are conducted every year to ensure that newly produced drugs are safe and effective, and clinicaltrials.gov has data showing that 2,119 registered clinical studies were done at the end of 2000. By May 2019, by contrast, researchers had predicted that some 306,388 studies would be done by the end of that year. Also, many surveys are to see how often and why Americans are willing to volunteer as drug trial subjects, and 95% of people who took part in a clinical trial reported that they would take part in another. Some 91% of those participants also said that their experience was good, or even excellent. And among other conditions, Alzheimer’s disease is a target for these trials. Despite there being no proper cure for Alzheimer’s, over 400 active clinical studies are being conducted in 19 different nations, and study goals include curing or at least delaying the onset of this degenerative illness. But what about factors such as HAMA, or interference tests?
All About Lipemia
What is lipemia, exactly? This describes when the patient’s bloodstream has an excess of fats or lipids, and other names for this condition include hyperlipemia and hyperlipidemia. More specifically, the American Heart Association says that elevated cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels define lipemia, and it should be noted that some lipids are healthy while others are not. To determine a patient’s treatment plan, a doctor will study all lipid levels for that patient. Overall, proper exercise and a good diet can help prevent this condition, and such efforts can be supplemented with medication if need be. A person can consult their doctor to have their lipid levels checked, and doing so can lower the risk of heart disease or even a stroke. A doctor may recommend that their patient avoid excessive high-fat dairy products and red meat, and avoid trans fats whenever possible.
What to Know About HAMA
HAMA is “human anti-mouse antibodies,” and this is an allergic reaction that can interfere with efforts to assay an illness or condition for a patient, which may include lipemia. For decades, scientists often mice were often used to produce monoclonal antibodies, or MAbs, but this resulted in some complications. When such antibodies were administered to a patient, the patient’s body would see them as foreign substances, and create antibodies to fight them off. This can result in various reactions, from a skin rash to something as serious as kidney failure. Estimates say that one third to one half of all patients may experience a HAMA result right away, or experience one if a certain medical treatment is repeated in the future. What is more, HAMA responses are known to create false positives in immunoassay efforts, something that no doctor would want to have happen.
One way to circumvent this problem is to develop such antibodies in vitro in human bodies, rather than mice. This can not only prevent HAMA reactions, but also avoids some of the controversy of using mice for this effort. Meanwhile, interested parties can (if they so choose) order a HAMA interference test kit.
