Drug therapy may involve various treatment options depending upon the illness or disease it is used to treat. Some common types of drug therapy include chemotherapy typically used for treating cancer, antidepressant medications, and steroid drugs for inflammatory diseases. Drug therapy can also involve treatment for drug addiction. This type of therapy is typically known as a drug rehabilitation program.
Many chronic diseases require drug therapy to control the associated symptoms and help the patient have a better quality of life. Fibromyalgia is a disease that may require prescription medications. This illness causes pain throughout various muscle groups and joints over an extended period of time, and is generally treated by a course of drug therapy that may include muscle relaxants, pain killers, and drugs that enable sleep.
Similarly, muscular dystrophy, which attacks muscle groups and causes spasms, rigidness, and pain, may be treated with corticosteroid drugs such as prednisone. This drug helps reduce inflammation in most patients. Anti-spasmodic drugs may also be prescribed.
Drug treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) may include many of the same types of medications. Although there is no known cure for OA, many of the medications may provide relief from symptoms and prevent the disease from progressing. Anti-inflammatory drugs can help reduce painful joint swelling in many patients, and may be prescribed for a period of time.
Many types of mental illness and psychiatric disorders are treated with drug therapy. Schizophrenia, which is typically characterized by delusions, loss of touch with reality, and paranoia, may be treated with neuroleptics. These are a type of antipsychotic drug. Benzodiazepine drugs are also sometimes used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. Certain drugs used for treating schizophrenia are commonly prescribed for dementia patients as well.
Cancer patients with aggressive forms of this disease are often given chemotherapy, or chemo. This includes high doses of chemicals that destroy cancer cells. Chemo is also used to keep the disease from metastasizing to other locations of the body. There are a wide array of chemotherapy drugs used to treat various forms of cancer. Often, chemo is used in conjunction with radiation as a total therapy program.
Drug therapy may also mean receiving therapy for a drug addiction. Many individuals who have drug-related issues, such as dependency on a narcotic, receive professional counseling in a drug therapy or rehabilitation, or rehab, program. This may include counseling on an in-patient basis or admission to a hospital or other facility for extensive treatment. The patient will receive support and guidance on how to manage his lifestyle and become addiction-free.