Tuesday, August 27, 2013


My favorite organic chemical is the antihistamine Allegra. Scientifically known as Fexofenadine, Allegra is a hydrochloride salt used for the relieve of Hay Fever, and chronic idiopathic urticaria (Hives).1 Allegra is my favorite organic compound because, personally, I have had seasonally allergies since middle school and my doctor recommended I try taking Allegra to subside my allergy symptoms of a runny nose and nasal congestion. Allegra works greatly for my allergy symptoms. It is so effective, in fact, that my sister also takes Allegra for her seasonal allergies as well. Created by Marion Merrel Dow, fexofenadine was made to be the metabolite of terfenadine. Dow chose to do this because of his wanting to change the growth of generic products constructed upon terfenadine.2 According to Dow, fexofenadine is called a second generation histamine blocker, disallowing the activation of H1 receptors. A benefit of Allegra is that it does not easily go into the brain via the bloodstream in the human body.

1 “Fexofenadine.” The Free Medical Dictionary. Accessed 26 August 2013. Web. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Fexofenadine

2 “Trends in Drug Patenting-Fexofenadine”. World Health Organization. Accessed 27 August 2013. Web.
 
This is the chemical structure of fexofenadine.
 
http://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures---F/Fexofenadine.htm

4 comments:

  1. This would have to be one of my favorite organic molecules as well. I have allergies very bad almost year round and this is what I use. I also work in a pharmacy and we sell a lot of Allegra! It is cool to learn more about what I'm putting into my body and what I'm selling to customers and to see how widely used it is.

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  2. I also suffer from seasonal allergies, but I use loratidine to treat my symptoms. Loratidine and fexofenadine are both antihistamines, and they both function by binding with H1 receptors, thus preventing histamines from doing so. Without histamines being received, one has temporary relief from allergy symptoms.
    Sources:
    http://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00455
    http://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00455

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  3. I also suffer from severe allergies, mainly in the Spring, and also take Loratadine. Allegra has never seemed to work as well for me. It know they work with generally the same mechanism so I am curious to know why one works better for some people than others. I was not able to find much about that in my research. The only difference I could find was that Allegra is still only available with a prescription (It must still be under patent). This means that some insurances may cover the cost of Allegra but not the over the counter Loratadine tablets.

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  4. This is a really neat organic molecule! I don't suffer from seasonal allergies, but my boyfriend does and I know he uses Claritin. My mom on the other hand suffers from both seasonal and year-round allergies which is really terrible since my mom is allergic to almost everything around her even rice and grass. She use to take allegra but when she hit 40, thats when she stopped since her conditioned worsen to the point where the doctors couldn't really do much for her. Because I live with people who I know suffers from allergies, I do find antihistamines such as Allegra as important and valuable organic molecules that is used in everyday medicine. Without it, many people would not be able to enjoy their life because of severe or mild allergies.

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