Desloratadine, a potent, once-daily, orally active, nonsedating,
histamine H1-receptor antagonist, inhibits the release of
histamine and other inflammatory mediators. Once-daily
desloratadine therapy rapidly reduces the symptoms of
perennial allergic rhinitis and
seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), reduces the use of inhaled
albuterol by patients with SAR and concomitant
asthma, and improves symptoms and quality of life in patients with
chronic idiopathic urticaria. An open-label, observational study in SAR patients revealed that
desloratadine therapy significantly reduced nasal, ocular, dermal,
asthma, and total symptoms, and enabled half of the patients with concomitant
asthma to reduce their use of
asthma medications. Globally, more than 91% of patients and physicians judged
desloratadine to have excellent or good efficacy, and more than 98% judged it to have excellent or good tolerability. Furthermore,
desloratadine therapy improved quality of life, decreasing by more than 10-fold the percentage of patients whose daily activities and/or sleep were moderately or severely affected by SAR.
Allergic rhinitis, a major chronic airway disease that is a risk factor for
asthma, warrants extended diagnostic procedures and well-tolerated
therapy that encompasses the entire airway, addresses multiple steps in the allergic inflammatory cascade, and is effective on nasal, ocular, dermal,
asthma, and total symptoms.