Today chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a major economic and social challenge and the only disease causing an ever-increasing number of fatalities [4, 5]. According to a number of recently completed studies, the prevalence of chronic lung diseases in people aged over 40 years is 10.1 per cent (11.8 for men and 8.5 per cent for women) globally (3).

The article tells about the role of antihistamines (AHs) in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). According to the modern trend, AHs are used in all forms of AR in adults and children as a monotherapy or in combination with other drugs, depending on the severity of the disease. Clinical effectiveness, high level of safety, lack of tachyphylaxis and ease of use make second-generation AH a drug of choice.

Tthe epidemiological situation of tuberculosis in Russia remains a challenge. High level of morbidity is conditioned by migration process and inadequate monitoring of new people coming from other regions and patients from the units of the Main Directorate of Administrating Punishment (GUIN) (1, 2). Nonspecific lung diseases significantly aggravate the course of lung tuberculosis. Chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease accompanied by bronchial obstruction syndrome are most frequently associated with pulmonary tuberculosis [4]. Bronchial obstruction syndrome occurs in all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis; detection frequency depends on the duration of the specific process and the severity of residual changes in the lungs [6].

Internal medicine specialists often have difficulty in making diagnosis and defining the type of treatment for patients with first time long-lasting cough or newly developed bronchial obstruction syndrome. Acute bronchitis (AB) is one of reasons of cough in patient who survived acute respiratory infection (ARI). The article aims to answer the question of what AB really is and what methods of diagnosis and treatment exist.

Throat pain, irritation and discomfort are familiar to everyone. The symptoms are one of the most widespread reasons for seeking medical help; people experience them repeatedly throughout their lives with varying intensity, frequency and duration, at any age, in all climatic zones and regardless of social status.

According to the WHO classification, gastroesophageal reflux disease is a chronic relapsing disease caused by violation of motor-evacuation function of the gastroesophageal zone characterized by spontaneous or regular backflow of gastric or duodenal contents into the esophagus resulting in damage of distal esophagus. Gastroesophageal reflux disease develops regardless of whether there are any or no morphological changes in the esophagus.

Symptomatic erosive and ulcerative lesions of stomach and duodenum are fairly widespread diseases united by one common feature , namely the change in the mucosa in response to various ulcerogenic factors. The lesions aggravate the underlying disease thus resulting in severe complications. In such cases prescription of drug treatment is required.

Biliary tract is a complex system of biliary excretion consisting of the common hepatic duct, gall bladder with Lutken’s sphincter, common bile duct, hepatopancreatic ampulla and sphincter of Oddi. The biliary excretion process is characterized by continuity. However, the flow of bile into the intestine occurs only during digestion. This is provided by the reservoir function of the gallbladder and its rhythmic contractions with consequent relaxation of sphincters of Lutken and Oddi. Sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system (gastrointestinal hormones) are regulating the process by synchronizing the sequence of contraction and relaxation of the gall bladder and the sphincter system.

Liver diseases of different types are a common cause of morbidity and mortality. The total number of liver lesions is unknown; however it is estimated to be huge, according to epidemiological studies conducted in different parts of the world.

Despite the achieved progress the treatment of chronic constipation remains a challenge today. This is caused by several factors. First, widespread free intake of laxatives by patients with constipation. The non-prescription status of laxatives leads to uncontrolled purchase of laxatives by patients as recommended by friends, advertising, etc. The data of pharmacy chains shows a high proportion of sales of laxatives which unfortunately cannot be attributed either to highly efficient or safe drugs. On the other hand, postponing tests which according to patients are complicated and time-consuming, requiring preparation and failure to make a reasonable judgment about the presence of constipation, result in delayed visits to gastroenterologist. Often patients come to the doctor already with a long history of constipation and unsuccessful therapy using various laxatives.

A number of diseases often bring about endogenous intoxication or endotoxicosis. Modern medicine offers a variety of efferent methods of treatment (from Lat. efferens meaning to eliminate from) aimed at detoxifying the organism from excessive endogenous and foreign substances. Enterosorption is part of efferent therapy the ultimate aim of which is to neutralize the effect of toxins and eliminate them from the body.

High incidence of bone fractures makes osteoporosis a significant problem in men. In 40-60% of affected males osteoporosis is secondary, i.e. developing along an underlying disease and accompanied by certain factors. The authors of the article studied the risk factors for osteoporosis and fractures in men and concluded that the key role in the variety of causes of secondary osteoporosis belongs to pathological changes in the level of hormones. Hypogonadism, endogenous hypercortisolism, changes in the level of thyroid hormone, parathyroid hormone and vitamin D are the proven causes of reduction of bone mineral density and fractures in men. Effective treatment is ensured by discovering the cause of osteoporosis in every clinical case.

As many as 371 [1] million patients are diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) today (Fig. 1); diabetes type 2 accounts for 85%- 90% of all the cases. In Russia alone the number of people suffering from diabetes exceeds 8 million people. The well-known clinical consequences of the disease leading to early disability and high mortality of patients are late vascular complications of diabetes. Diabetes type 2 is the major cause of end-stage renal disease, vision loss in people of working age and non-traumatic lower extremity amputations. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in patients with type 2 diabetes equals 70-80%.

The study covered 140 women aged 45-60 (median age: 50 ± 7,2 years) in postmenopausal period the majority of who had stage II hypertension (120 women) and 20 were apparently healthy (control group). The function of the thyroid gland was examined; 78 patients were diagnosed with hypothyroidism, 30 with hyperthyroidism and 12 with euthyroidism. Evaluation of the size of β-adrenoceptors in erythrocyte membranes (β-APM) through the unique research method revealed a wide range of β-APM measures; all the patients were diagnosed with hypersympathicotonia. After the examination, treatment with Lodoz (bisoprolol 5 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 6.25 mg) once daily in the morning was initiated. Blood pressure and overall well-being of patients were checked once a week; if monotherapy with Lodoz proved to be ineffective, bisoprolol 5 mg in the evening was prescribed additionally; in case of failure to achieve required anti-hypertensive effect in patients, they were prescribed with enalapril 10-20 mg per day. 80 patients with hypertension taking Lodoz (5 of those in combination with bisoprolol) and 20 patients taking enalapril completed the treatment. After 12 weeks of antihypertensive therapy all patients who completed the study underwent 24-hour blood pressure monitoring; the results showed a good antihypertensive effect of Lodoz. No side-effects attributed to the therapy were observed.

The Myasnikov Research Institute of Clinical Cardiology, Russian Cardiology Research and Production Complex, Russia’s Ministry of Health The article tells about current trends in drug therapy for patients with stable coronary artery disease; mechanisms of action of drugs of different groups; data on efficacy of drugs in the reduction of clinical manifestations of the disease and mitigation of factors of cardiovascular events - myocardial infarction and mortality.

The article reviews current approaches to primary prevention of cardiovascular events and risk-benefit balance in the use of statin therapy in healthy people at risk of cardiovascular disease; the results of large clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of statins used for primary prevention; safety of statins, particularly, a higher risk of developing diabetes; different approaches to the selection of necessary and sufficient doses of statins in primary prevention.

On the territory of the Russian Federation tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is registered in over 1.550 administrative districts of 41 regions, territories and autonomous republics. Over the entire period of observations since the official start of records in 1939, the manifestations have remained seasonal (May, August) with regular periods of rise in morbidity (9-11 years) caused by changes of the total quantity and percentage of infected ticks in the total [1, 2].

The emergence of new techniques and methods that inhibit tumor growth and promote regression of symptoms is introducing new approaches to the management and care of patients with uterine fibroids, both in surgical and drug treatment.

According to WHO (1984), mastopathy is a fibrocystic disease (FCD) characterized by the imbalance of epithelial and connective tissue in the breast and a wide range of proliferative and regressive changes. Clinical practitioners commonly use the classification proposed by N.I. Rozhkova in 1983.

For many years now dry eye syndrome (DES) characterized by relatively high prevalence in the population of developed countries remains a challenge for practical medicine. The prevalence of DES continues to grow. According to the studies of R. Marquardt and F.N. Wenz dated 1980, up to 30% of all ophthalmic patients were affected by the eye disease then; based on our reports of today, the number already reached and exceeded 45% [1, 2]. The reasons of the incidence growth are explained by frequent cases of computer vision and office syndromes, increasing number of laser refractive surgeries and wide use of contact lenses for vision correction. The above-mentioned factors of civilization more typically affect young people for whom the symptoms are often the main reason of decline of visual capacity and in some cases even of forced change of occupation [1, 3, 5].