I suppose it's a tough job to dream up new and unique names for all the new chemicals as they are discovered, but in many cases, the names can lead to confusion.
A case in point is Sulfasalazine, (brand name Azulfidine), which is broken down by chemical processes in the body, into 5-aminosalicylic acid, (5-ASA), and sulfapyridine. The 5-ASA component is also known as mesalamine, and this is the ingredient that is useful for fighting the inflammation found in IBDs. Sulfapyradine is useful to treat arthritis, but unfortunately, many people suffer adverse reactions to it, because it is a sulfa-based drug, so it is generally less desirable for treating IBDs, because of that characteristic.
Mesalamine, of course, is available independently as a derivative of sulfasalazine, as a generic product, and there are many brand names that use mesalamine as the active ingredient, such as Asacol, Colazal, Pentasa, Lialda, Apriso, Salofalk, Canasa, Ipocol, Mesasal, Mesacol, Mesren, Rowasa, etc. Sulfasalazine is still available, also, and doctors still prescribe it in certain cases, because for one thing, it is generally much cheaper than mesalamine.
Here's the confusing part, though - mesalamine is also referred to as mesalazine. It's no wonder that confusion sometimes exists regarding the various drugs in this class.
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