Tag: Drug synergy

In a study of over 300,000 hypertension patients, nearly 61% received combination therapy, a figure that increased between 2019 and 2021 [1.7.4]. This highlights a critical question: **why would doctors use combination therapy** instead of a single medication?

Clinical studies have shown that for many complex diseases, such as certain cancers and multidrug-resistant infections, a multi-drug approach can significantly improve patient outcomes compared to a single-agent treatment. This raises a critical question in modern medicine: Is combination therapy more effective?

Nearly half of older adults take five or more pills a day, highlighting the complexity of medication management and the significant challenge of patient adherence. A key strategy to address this complexity and improve treatment outcomes is to understand what is the purpose of combined medications, which involves consolidating multiple active ingredients into a single dose.

In the United States, about 30% of older adults take five or more drugs simultaneously, a practice known as polypharmacy. This highlights the prevalence of using multiple medications, a core principle behind the question, **what is combination therapy and how does it work?**

In a study of U.S. patients starting treatment for high blood pressure, nearly 16% began with a fixed-dose combination therapy [1.7.4]. This highlights a crucial area of pharmacology: understanding *what is the difference between adjunctive and combination therapy?* Both strategies use multiple treatments but have distinct goals and applications.

Combination therapies are a mainstay of modern cancer treatment, and drug synergy, where the combined effect of two or more drugs is greater than the sum of their individual effects, is a powerful tool in pharmacology. This potentiation of effects is exploited across a wide array of medical fields, providing more effective and often less toxic treatment options for many complex diseases.