Famotidine Injection and Selegiline Hydrochloride

• Generic Name: famotidine
• Dosage Forms: injection, solution
• Other Brand Names: Pepcid, Heartburn Relief, Pepcid AC, Pepcid AC Maximum Strength, Pepcid AC Chewable Tablets, Pepcid Oral Suspension

Famotidine is a histamine-2 blocker that works by decreasing the amount of acid the stomach produces.

Famotidine is used to treat and prevent ulcers in the stomach and intestines. It also treats conditions in which the stomach produces too much acid, such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

Famotidine also treats gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions in which acid backs up from the stomach into the esophagus, causing heartburn.

• Generic Name: selegiline
• Dosage Forms: n.a.
• Other Brand Names: Eldepryl, Zelapar, Emsam

Used as adjunctive therapy for symptomatic treatment of parkinsonian syndrome (e.g., parkinsonism, Parkinson disease [paralysis agitans]) in patients who exhibit a deteriorating response to levodopa/carbidopa; designated an orphan drug by FDA for this condition. Appears to be most beneficial when used during the early stages of the “wearing off” effect. Especially useful in improving “end-of-dose” motor fluctuations.

Has been used as monotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed parkinsonian syndrome. Because selegiline is well tolerated and possibly neuroprotective (i.e., reduces the rate of progression of parkinsonian syndrome ), some clinicians initiate therapy with selegiline in such patients, reserving levodopa or another agent (i.e., dopamine agonist) until manifestations become severe enough to warrant more aggressive therapy. However, the manufacturers state that there is no evidence from controlled studies indicating that selegiline provides benefit in the absence of concurrent levodopa therapy.

Has been used with equivocal results for the palliative treatment of mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (Alzheimer’s disease, presenile or senile dementia).