The Opioid epidemic is one of the most damaging health crises of our era. According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, between July 2016 and September 2017, the locations under study (across 45 states) had a 30 percent increase in Opioid-related fatalities. 1 Even overall life expectancy is now in decline, […]
Medicine
Problematic Painkillers
Have you ever taken ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil) or naproxen (Aleve/Naproxen) to alleviate pain? Well if so, you are like millions of others who often seek pain relief from these popular medications. These drugs as well as the Cox-2 inhibitors Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex are known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Serious side effects of NSAIDs have […]
Stop Chasing Symptoms
Isn’t it time you stopped chasing symptoms? These signals that you get from your body are frequently misunderstood. More importantly, treating symptoms without getting to the cause of a problem can lead to mismanagement of your health and more severe health problems as you age. When you get sick, for example, and your temperature goes […]
Side Effects or Direct Effects of Medication
The most common question that individuals ask before they ever take a prescription drug is, “What are the side effects?” Before you pop another pill, you must understand how medication side effects directly affect your body today and in years to come. Medications are tested in a laboratory until the chemical reaction that they are […]
Tylenol is Not Candy
For many people, at the first sign of a fever, headache or other minor discomfort, the “go-to” remedy is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Since pain is a sign that something is wrong, covering up the symptoms without getting to the cause is not a good plan and often creates more serious problems. Helping […]
Consumer Reports Backs Non-Drug Measures
In the March 2012 issue of Consumer Reports, there is an article that matches common prescription drugs to their side effects. Provided as a quiz, medications such as Lipitor, Viagra, Cymbalta, Advair Diskus and others are separated from their possible side effects so that you, the consumer, can test your recall from the four billion […]
