This belongs to the group of medicines known as vitamin D analogues.
It is similar to vitamin D, a vitamin essential for healthy skin.

Rocaltrol is used to treat plaque psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is a skin disorder caused by cells in the outer layer of the skin multiplying too quickly. As new skin cells are produced, old ones are shed. If this process is taking place too quickly, old skin cells build up on the skin surface causing red, scaly patches. Rocaltrol helps to control psoriasis by slowing down the production of new skin cells.

Rocaltrol is available in cream, ointment and scalp solution form.

It is also sometimes known as: Dovonex. You may notice the use of any of these names on the packaging of your medicine.

Why is this drug prescribed?

Calcitriol is a vitamin D metabolite which is normally produced in the kidneys from its immediate precursor, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol. In the normal situation it controls the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate and plays an important part in the regulation of bone mineralisation. In chronic renal failure, the kidneys produce insufficient calcitriol and this leads to abnormalities of calcium and phosphate metabolism. Oral administration of calcitriol to patients with chronic renal failure compensates for the reduced production of calcitriol. Consequently, intestinal malabsorption of calcium and phosphate and the resulting hypocalcaemia are improved, thereby reversing the signs and symptoms of bone disease.

Treatments

* Osteoporosis in postmenopausal women * The correction of abnormalities of calcium and phosphate metabolism in renal osteodystrophy.

What side effects can this drug cause?

* Headache * Abdominal pain * Thirst * Allergy to active ingredients * Sweating * Disturbances of the gut such as diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain * Weakness * Abnormal heart beats * Balance problems involving the inner ear * High blood calcium level * High blood phosphate content * Loss of appetite * Sleepiness * Paralysis or inactivity of the intestine that stops the movement of material through the gut * Dehydration * Increased production of urine * Indifference/apathy * High calcium levels in the urine