Delicious - Pets

The vestibular system controls balance and prevents an animal from falling over. It does this by holding and constantly adjusting the position of the eyes, head and body in relation to gravity. When there is disease affecting this system, though it is seldom life threatening, the symptoms caused can be particul

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

arly distressing for a pet owner. Animals may tilt their head to one side, circle either clockwise or anticlockwise, fall over repeatedly, roll to one side, be generally wobbly and display abnormal pupil movement in their eyes. Here we look at the physiology of the vestibular system in dogs and cats, what can g

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

wrong and how a good veterinarian will diagnose and treat it.

What exactly is the vestibular system?

The vestibular system is a sensory system consisting of a receptor organ within the inner ear, the vestibular nerve itself, and a balance control centre at the back of the brain. The receptor

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

organ in the inner ear detects the position and movement of the head in space, both when the animal is resting or moving. Information on the position of the head is converted into electrical signals, which are transmitted via the vestibular nerve to the brain. The balance control centre in the brain then proce

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

sed this information, and sends motor signals to the muscles controlling the positions of the eyes and limbs according to the movement of the head.

What is vestibular syndrome?

Vestibular syndrome is a general term describing disease of the vestibular system. The term alone does not provide a

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ny information on which part of the vestibular system is affected, and what the cause is.

What are the signs to look out for?

Animals with vestibular disease may display any or all of the following signs:

1. Head tilt

This is rotation of the head so that one ear is lower than the other. It

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ccurs due to loss of antigravity muscle tone on one side of the neck.

2. Circling

Circling often occurs with vestibular disease, but can also occur with forebrain tumors. Generally, tight circles mean vestibular disease while wide circles mean a brain tumor.

3. Nystagmus (wandering pupils)

This means involu

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ntary rhythmic movement of the eyeballs. The pupils tend to drift to one side (the slow phase) and then jerk back to the middle (the fast phase). Usually the slow phase is toward the diseased side.

4. Strabismus (squint)

This means abnormal position of the eyeballs, rather like the condition commonly known as

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

a squint.

5. Ataxia (wobbliness)

This means walking in an uncoordinated fashion, and is seen with a wide range of diseases other than vestibular disease, such as those affecting the brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves. Animals can adopt a broad based stance, exhibit swaying of the head, and leaning, falli

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

ng and rolling to one side.

Peripheral vs Central Vestibular Disease

Vestibular disease is categorized as either peripheral or central, according to where in the system the disease originates from. Peripheral vestibular disease is where the disease is located in either the receptor organs in

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

he inner ear or the vestibular nerve. Central vestibular disease is where the disease is located in the balance control centre in the brain (to be precise, either in the brainstem vestibular nuclei or in the cerebellum).

The first task for the veterinarian is to identify whether he/she is dealing with peripher

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

l or central vestibular disease. This is done by looking carefully for all of the symptoms described above, and further characterizing them by direction and nature. It is beyond the remit of this article to go into the exact way of differentiating them clinically, and though it can usually be achieved by a comp

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

etent vet by examination alone, sometimes further tests are necessary to do so.

Causes of peripheral vestibular syndrome

Middle or inner ear disease (infection or tumor)
Nasopharyngeal polyps
Head trauma
Drug toxicity (e.g. gentamycin)
Underactive thyro

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

d gland

Congenital (present at birth)

Idiopathic (cause unidentifiable)

Causes of central vestibular syndrome

Brain hemorrhage or infarct
Infectious encephalitis (bacterial, viral or fungal)
Meningoencephalitis
Head trauma
Drug

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

toxicity (e.g. metronidazole)

Brain cyst

Brain tumor (primary or metastatic)

Thiamine deficiency

Neurodegenerative disease

Making a diagnosis

First, the veterinarian must distinguish between peripheral and central disease based on clinical signs. If

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

here is doubt, diagnostics for both should be done. If the veterinarian suspects central disease, he/she may choose to rule out peripheral disease with various tests first because the tests for central disease are expensive (e.g. MRI or CT scan).

The following procedure is what is most commonly done when looki

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ng for causes of peripheral vestibular disease. If drug toxicity has been ruled out (no metronidazole, aminoglycoside antibiotics or topical chlorhexidine recently) then the external ears are examined using an otoscope (illuminated and magnified inspection device with a rigid conical end which is inserted into

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

he ear canal). Ear infections, tumors and polyps may be detected this way. Middle ear disease is suspected if the ear drum appears to be ruptured, bulging, cloudy or red in color. Thyroid levels are usually measured by a blood test at this stage to rule out hypothyroidism.

The next step of the investigation is

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

taking xrays of the skull. Several views are required but the most important one is that which shows the tympanic bullae in the middle ears most clearly. This requires general anesthesia to allow correct positioning.

If the tests at this stage have all come back normal, many cases will be given a presumptive

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

iagnosis of idiopathic vestibular syndrome. This is usually because a) it is by far the most likely diagnosis, and b) further specialized tests are costly. If however further tests are to be carried out, MRI or CT scanning, electromyography and nerve conduction studies are a possibility in some referral centers

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.delicious.org.ua/article/373294/delicious-Vestibular-Disease-in-Dogs-and-Cats.html">Vestibular Disease in Dogs and Cats</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.delicious.org.ua/article/373294/delicious-Vestibular-Disease-in-Dogs-and-Cats.html]Vestibular Disease in Dogs and Cats[/url]

“Blame your parents when you have no food and blame the government when your business is bad.” Such wrong attitude provides a bad start to solving your problems. Shame and blame are not justifiable. Take responsibility.

You can make more money using the job, business and knowledge you already have. Here are some of the ways to do it.

Tips to finding those foods that help you to lower cholesterol naturally. Places to go to get help, your family physician, health department, dietitian, health food store and local library for books on diets and fighting cholesterol.

Tags

Links

Delicious - Vestibular Disease in Dogs and Cats

Related Articles: