Quinine

Special Precautions of Quinine

• Potentially serious interactions with other drugs
• Abnormal heart rhythms
• Thrombocytopenia, a blood platelet disorder that can cause hemorrhage or clotting problems
• Severe hypersensitivity reactions

Benefits and uses of Quinine are

Currently, treatment of malaria is the only approved use of quinine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This medication was once believed to have value for the treatment of leg cramps. However, quinine treatments were linked to severe, even fatal medical effects, which prompted the FDA in 1995 to ban the substance for all uses other than treatment of malaria.

• Uncomplicated Malaria : According to Drugs.com, quinine is mainly used to treat uncomplicated malaria, a disease that is transmitted through the bites of mosquitoes. Malaria is a parasitic disease that is characterized by high fever, shaking chills, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, anemia and jaundice. Malaria disease normally affects people living in warm climates such as South America, Africa and India. Malaria is not a common disease in the U.S., and the disease is mainly diagnosed in Americans who engage in international travel to countries where malaria is common. Quinine should not be used to prevent malaria, due to adverse side effects.
• Babesiosis : Drugs.com states that quinine may be used to treat babesiosis. Babesiosis is a life-threatening disease that is transmitted from animals to human beings by ticks. Signs and symptoms of babesiosis include fever, chills, sweating, weakness, muscle aches, loss of appetite, headache, joint pain and fatigue.
• Nighttime Leg Cramps : According to PubMed Health, the majority of quinine's use in the United States is for the treatment or prevention of nighttime leg cramps. Night leg cramps are sudden, painful, involuntary contractions of muscles in the legs. In most cases, night leg cramps involve the calf muscles, but muscles in the feet or thighs may cramp as well. Quinine may cause serious side effects and should only be used to treat nighttime leg cramps when alternative remedies have failed.