Histamine and H1-Antihistamines in Allergic Disease PDF

Preface

‘‘Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world . . .''

Tennyson

Since the first edition of this successful medical textbook was published in 1996, high-level interest in histamine as a chemical mediator of inflammation has continued, and H₁-antihistamines such as cetirizine, fexofenadine, and loratadine remain the most widely used medications worldwide for allergic disorders, particularly for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and urticaria.

Several new second-generation, nonsedating H₁-antihistamines have been approved for use during the past few years. These medications include ebastine, mizolastine, desloratadine, and levocetirizine, soon to be followed by epinastine, tecastemizole, and others. New topical H₁-antihistamine formulations such as azelastine, levocabastine, ketotifen, emedastine, and olopatadine have also been introduced for intranasal and ocular use. Two H₁-antihistamines, astemizole and terfenadine, which are no longer approved by regulatory agencies due to their potential cardiac toxicity, have now almost entirely disappeared from the scene.

Histamine and H₁-Antihistamines in Allergic Disease, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded, reflects these important developments. It provides an upto- date, comprehensive analysis of the benefits of this important class of medications, including their broad antiallergic effects, and it contrasts the excellent safety profiles of the relatively nonsedating second-generation H₁-antihistamines with those of the sedating first-generation H₁-antihistamines.

We sincerely thank the scientists and clinician scientists who have helped to make this new edition a reality—not only for their contributions to the book, but also for their sustained contributions to improving the evidence base for H₁- antihistamine use in the treatment of allergic disease.