General
Description & Use
Treats high blood pressure, fluid retention (edema) and other
conditions such as hypokalemia (low potassium levels). Spironolactone
(marketed under the trade names Aldactone, Novo-Spiroton, Spiractin,
Spirotone, Verospiron, Berlactones, Aladactide 25, Spironolact/
Hydroflumethiazide, and Lasilactone) is a diuretic and is used
as an antiandrogen. Popular with M3F transsexuals in suppressing
male hormones.
It
is a synthetic 17-lactone drug which is a renal competitive aldosterone
antagonist in a class of pharmaceuticals called potassium-sparing
diuretics, used primarily to treat heart failure, ascites in patients
with liver disease, low-renin hypertension, hypokalemia, and Conn's
syndrome as well as high blood pressure. On its own, spironolactone
is only a weak diuretic, but it can be combined with other diuretics.
About one person in one hundred with hypertension has elevated
levels of aldosterone; in these persons the antihypertensive effect
of spironolactone may exceed that of complex combined regimens
of other antihypertensives. Due to its anti-androgen effect, it
can also be used to treat hirsutism, and is a common component
in hormone therapy for male-to-female transsexual and transgendered
people. It is also used for treating hair loss and acne in women
and can be used as a topical medication for treatment of male
baldness..
