Monotherapy
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Monotherapy refers to a therapy which is taken by itself. It can be applied to any therapeutic approach, but it is most commonly used to describe the use of a single medication. Normally, monotherapy is selected because a single medication is adequate to treat the medical condition. However, monotherapies may also be used because of unwanted side effects or dangerous drug interactions.[1]
Monotherapy is rarely used in treating some conditions, such as HIV infection[citation needed], and many kinds of cancer. One major benefit of combination therapies is that they reduce development of drug resistance since a pathogen or tumor is less likely to have resistance to multiple drugs simultaneously.[citation needed]. Artemisinin-based monotherapies for malaria are explicitly discouraged to avoid the problem of developing resistance to the newer treatment.[citation needed]
The opposite of monotherapy is referred to as combination therapy or polytherapy.
See also
- Polypill, a medication which contains a combination of active ingredients
References
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Monotherapy: The treatment of epilepsy with a single medication rather than a combination. Monotherapy has advantages over combining medications in many patients, including absence of drug-drug interactions, fewer side effects, simpler dosing, and lower cost. However, not all patients can be controlled with monotherapy.
