Antifungal Agents to Treat Nail Fungus

Nail fungal infections were once dismissed as purely cosmetic, but now doctors are beginning to realize that these infections can cause serious health complications. Nail fungus is especially common in people with compromised immune systems, diabetes or circulation problems, and these individuals may be especially at risk of developing serious health complications. Fortunately, doctors are beginning to treat fungal nail infections with a greater degree of seriousness.

Today, we have a wider variety of medications to treat nail fungus. Pharmaceutical companies have developed new and powerful antifungal agents to treat these often-stubborn infections. There are three oral antifungal agents in particular, terbinafine, fluconazole, and itraconazole, which are the common oral medications prescribed to treat nail fungus. These three agents are easy to absorb and have what is known as a "reservoir effect." This means that the antifungal agents move to the nail plate and remain stored there for many months. This allows the fungal infection that lives behind nail plate to be treated, even as the nail begins to grow out.

The first of these oral antifungal agents to be approved in recent years is Itraconazole (Sporonox). You should not take itraconazole to treat if you are pregnant or could become pregnant. It is taken orally on a daily basis for a period of several weeks, the duration of treatment depending partly on the location of the infection. Fingernail infections are generally easier to treat because the nails are not as thick and may be treated with Itraconazole for a period of roughly six weeks. For toenail infections, treatment may last for up to three months. Itraconazole is often used for a treatment technique described as "pulse dosing." Pulse dosing refers to taking a concentrated amount of medication on a short-term basis to treat localized infections.

Another antifungal



agent that is being developed to treat nail infections is known as fluconazole (Diflucan). Fluconazole, as you might guess from its name, is related to the chemicals present in Itraconazole. Although fluconazole has not yet been approved for treating nail fungal infections, it appears to hold out great promise for treating infections on a pulse dosing or long-term schedule.

Itraconazole and fluconazole are classified as fungi static drugs and work by stopping the growth and reproduction of fungi. Unfortunately, although these antifungal agents are showing great promise for treating common fungal infections, they have a problematic side effect: their chemical properties tend to interact negatively with other common medications. Nail fungus is a common condition that usually presents in mid-life or later years. Older people are more likely to use medications to treat various ailments, and this can make it difficult to use antifungal oral agents to treat nail infections when they are taking other prescription medications.

A third oral antifungal agent that is currently used to treat most cases of nail infections is known as terbinafine, and it is widely prescribed commercially as Lamisil (also sold as Lamasil). Lamisil taken orally is a powerful, prescription only anti-fungal drug used to treat nail fungus. It seeks to kill germs and fungi, while Itraconazole and Fluconazole just work to stop the development of the fungi. Lamasil is generally taken on a daily basis, but although it has proven effective for some cases of nail infections, it has not shown itself to be a universal cure for fungal infections.

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