What You Need to Know About Singulair
Millions of American suffer from asthma, allergies and other respiratory problems. If you have asthma, you may have seen commercials for Singulair and considered trying it. You should learn as much as you can about any medication before trying it.
What is Singulair?
Singulair is a trade name for the drug Montelukast and is sold in the United States by Merck & Co.1
Singulair was approved by the FDA to treat asthma in patients over one year of age, prevention of exercise induced constriction of airways in patients 6 years old or older, and relief of allergic rhinitis or excessively runny and plugged nose and other symptoms brought on by allergies.2
Singulair prevents the immune system from making fatty compounds that cause inflammation in asthma and bronchitis, and constrict airways.3
Does Singulair work?
A 1999 review of published clinical trials on the group of drugs that includes Montelukast (Singulair) to treat asthma showed “good anti-asthmatic activity” alone or with inhaled steroids.4
However, later reviews of published studies concluded that Montelukast (Singulair) was not more effective or was less effective than corticosteroid nasal sprays. A 2003 review concluded that there was no evidence to support the use of Montelukast (Singulair) over nasal sprays to treat allergic rhinitis5 and a 2010 review of 127 studies found that nasal sprays were more effective than drugs like Singulair in treating children’s asthma.6
A 2011 review of published studies found that nasal spray corticosteroids alone worked better than drugs like Singulair alone and that a combination of the two was no better than nasal sprays alone.7
What should I ask my doctor about before I decide to take Singulair?
Singulair does have side effects, some of them very dangerous.
Physical effects patients have reported included increased tendency to bleeding, a decrease in blood platelets, and hypersensitivity reactions, including allergic reactions.
Some of the more serious side effects of Singulair are mental rather than physical. Patients of all ages have reported suicidal thinking and behavior (including suicide), becoming agitated, aggressive, anxious, depressed, disoriented, having dream abnormalities, hallucinations, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, somnambulism, and tremors.2
What if I’m already taking Singulair?
Never stop taking a prescription drug without talking to your doctor. If you are concerned about Singulair or you experience any side effects, talk to your doctor.
Learn everything that you can about Singulair before you start taking it.
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1 http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/s/singulair/singulair.html2 Food and Drug Administration, Singulair Highlights of Prescribing Information, http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2012/021409s036lbl.pdf
3 Food and Drug Administration, “Singulair”, http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/020829s051_020830s052_021409s028lbl.pdf
4 Lancet, Lipworth B., “Leukotriene-receptor antagonists” (2 January 1999), http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(98)09019-9/abstract
5 National Institutes of Health, Gonyeau M J, “A clinical review of montelukast in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis” (2003), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0020386/
6 Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Castro-Rodriguez JA, “the role of inhaled corticosteroids and motelukast in children with mild-moderate asthma: results of a systematic review with meta-analysis” (2010), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0030121/
7 Oregon Health Science University, Jonas D. “Drug Class Review: Controller Medications for Asthma” (April 2011), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0032860/