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Leuprolide (Intradermal Route, Intramuscular Route, Subcutaneous Route)
Drug Information provided by: MicromedexUS Brand Names
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Description
Leuprolide is a man-made version of a hormone that is similar to the one normally released from the hypothalamus gland in the brain. It is used to treat a number of medical problems. These include:
- Anemia caused by bleeding of uterine leiomyomas (tumors in the uterus).
- Cancer of the prostate, advanced.
- Central precocious puberty (CPP), a condition that causes early puberty in boys (before 9 years of age) and in girls (before 8 years of age).
- Pain due to endometriosis.
When given regularly to men and boys, leuprolide decreases testosterone levels. Reducing the amount of testosterone in the body is one way of treating cancer of the prostate.
When given regularly to women, leuprolide decreases estrogen levels. Reducing the amount of estrogen in the body is one way of treating endometriosis. By shrinking tumors in the uterus, leuprolide helps stop anemia by decreasing the vaginal bleeding from these tumors. Iron supplements should be used to help treat the anemia.
When given to boys and girls experiencing early puberty, leuprolide slows down the development of the genital areas in both sexes and breast development in girls. This medicine delays puberty in a child only as long as the child continues to receive it.
Suppressing estrogen can cause thinning of the bones or slowing of growth. This is a problem for adult women whose bones are no longer growing like the bones of children. Slowing the growth of bones is a positive effect in girls and boys whose bones grow too fast when puberty begins too early. Boys and girls may benefit by adding inches to their adult height when leuprolide helps their bones grow at the proper and expected rate for children.
This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription.
Once a medicine has been approved for marketing for a certain use, experience may show that it is also useful for other medical problems. Although this use is not included in product labeling, leuprolide is used in certain patients with the following medical condition:
- Cancer of the breast.
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