Making the most of Zavesca
Zavesca can provide true benefits to people with type 1 Gaucher disease. Still, keep in mind that Zavesca may take some time to work in ways you can notice.
Learn moreOther Considerations While Taking Zavesca
To make the most of Zavesca therapy, you and your doctor may want to consider making some changes to your diet.
Learn moreUnderstanding food labels—one way to start managing your diet while on Zavesca therapy
Help yourself by making healthy choices.
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Simple Steps for making the most of Zavesca.
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You've already learned that it's important to minimize the amount of food you eat containing high amounts of starch and sugars—specifically sucrose, maltose, and lactose—and to continue enjoying foods low in starch and carbohydrates. As described below, food labels can be your simple everyday guide to making good dietary choices.
Work with your doctor or a nutritionist for help with choosing appropriate foods while you're on Zavesca therapy. You can also find information about the carbohydrate, fat, and protein content of individual foods at www.nal.usda.gov, fnic.nal.usda.gov, and www.nutritiondata.com.
What the label says
This is a food label.
Three sections of the label in particular are important to you while on therapy with Zavesca: serving size, sugars, and ingredient list.
Serving size
The first place to start when you look at the Nutrition Facts label is the serving size and the number of servings in the package. Serving sizes are based in familiar units (such as cups or pieces), followed by an amount in metric units (such as milliliters or grams). In the fruit yogurt example below, a serving size is one container.
Sugars
Because it is recommended that you reduce certain sugars (disaccharides) while taking Zavesca, you should look at sugars listed under the carbohydrate section of the Nutrition Facts label. These include naturally occurring sugars (like those in fruit and milk) as well as those added to a food or drink.* The example of the plain yogurt has 12g of sugars, while the fruit yogurt has 27g of sugars in one serving.
Ingredients list
Compare the ingredient lists for the two yogurts. Ingredients are listed in order of weight (from most to least). Make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars include corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup.
You may notice that even though no added sugars or sweeteners are in the list of ingredients for the plain yogurt, the Nutrition Facts label shows 12g of sugars. This is because there are no added sugars in plain yogurt, only naturally occurring sugars (lactose in the milk).
*You can check the ingredient list for sugars that are not natural and have been added.
Talk to your doctor first before making any changes to your diet.
What is ZAVESCA?
ZAVESCA is a prescription medicine taken by mouth for adults with mild to moderate type 1 Gaucher disease. ZAVESCA is used only in people who cannot be treated with enzyme replacement therapy.
Important Safety Information for Zavesca:
In clinical studies, the most common adverse events due to Zavesca included weight loss, diarrhea, and trembling in the hand (tremor). Other common adverse reactions were excess gas (flatulence), abdominal pain, and headache. The most common serious adverse reaction was tingling or numbness in the hands or feet with or without pain (peripheral neuropathy). Patients should undergo neurological examination at the start of treatment and every 6 months thereafter; Zavesca should be reassessed in patients who develop symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. Zavesca may cause fetal harm if administered to a pregnant woman. Men should maintain reliable contraceptive methods and not plan to father a child while taking Zavesca and for 3 months after discontinuing treatment.
Please see full Prescribing Information.
