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All Prescription Drugs Alerts

In the Trash? Down the Drain? What’s the Safest Way to Dispose of Unused Meds?

Open your medicine cabinet and take a close look at what's on the shelves. Chances are pretty good that you have prescription medications gathering dust in there that you're no longer taking or that have expired. The next step is to toss those old medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet, right? More...

Straight Talk on the Health Risks of Herbal Supplements

Many people assume that dietary supplements are inherently safe because they are sold without a prescription. This is particularly the case for herbal supplements, which some people perceive as "natural" and therefore safer than artificial "chemicals." But nothing could be further from the truth. More...

Why Is Prescription Medication So Costly?

Developing a new drug for use in humans is an expensive gamble. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), researchers may screen as many as 10,000 different molecules to identify only 250 worthy of preliminary study in test tubes, cell cultures and laboratory animals. Of those 250 candidate drugs, only five might be suitable for testing in people. Only one of those five drugs may end up on the pharmacy shelf. More...

Your Pharmacist: An Underutilized Resource

A survey commissioned by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) found that people who know their pharmacists by name tend to keep them up to date on all the medications they take, read the labeling information on their prescriptions, know their medications' active ingredients and ask questions about their drugs more often. More...

Safely Disposing of Unused Medications: Advice from the FDA

Open up your medicine cabinet and take a close look at what's on its shelves. Chances are pretty good that you have prescription drugs that you're no longer taking or drugs whose expiration date passed years ago. The next step is to toss those old medications in the trash or flush them down the toilet, right? Not so fast: Incorrect disposal is almost as big a problem as improper prescription drug use -- and it can lead to a variety of unintended harmful consequences. More...

Antibiotics: How They Can Cause Diarrhea

Antibiotics have been widely used since World War II, and they've saved countless lives since then. Bacterial illnesses such as strep throat and urinary tract infections can be easily treated, often in three to 10 days. But as with any medication, antibiotics carry the risk of digestive side effects. People taking antibiotics may develop mild diarrhea or a more serious bowel inflammation. More...

How Oral Drugs Are Metabolized in the Body

Many prescription drugs taken orally are absorbed in the small intestine. The amount of medication that reaches the bloodstream depends on how much is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. Here’s a brief description of how drugs move through the body … More...

Diuretics: A NEW Look at an OLD Medicine

Very few medicines have been studied as intently or used as successfully for as many years as diuretics. Whether they are taken alone or in combination with other hypertension drugs, diuretics have consistently been shown to be safe and effective -- and relatively inexpensive. More...

The Danger of One-Size-Fits-All Dosing

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts; www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com
A subscriber to our Health After 50 newsletter asks: I'm taller and heavier than the average person. Should I be taking a higher dose of antibiotics? Here’s what we know … More...

Medication: Finding the Right Dosage

When you begin a new medication, the key to avoiding side effects is to take the lowest possible dosage that still gives you the benefit you need -- whether that intended benefit is relieving arthritis pain, reducing cholesterol levels, or maintaining healthy levels of blood sugar to prevent the long-term complications of diabetes. More...

Research on Statins and Vascular Disease

A reader asks: “Do statins provide additional benefits beyond cholesterol control for people with vascular disease?” Here’s what the research shows … More...

The Dangers of Polypharmacy

Today, approximately half of all Americans over 65 take five or more medications daily; about one quarter take between 10 and 20 medications each day. A single medication can sometimes have its own adverse effect. And someone taking as few as two or three may experience a drug-drug interaction. But polypharmacy, the clinical term for the use of numerous and potentially unnecessary prescription medications, appears to be the main reason for the heightened risk of drug complications in older adults. Here’s why … More...

What We Learned in 2010: Key Findings on Heartburn Medications

Should you use proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for everyday heartburn? Here’s a discussion of the new recommendations – from the editors of the Health After 50 newsletter. More...

What Does FDA Approval Really Mean For You?

Approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) means that clinical studies have proven a drug to be more helpful than harmful for specific diseases and conditions. But FDA approval does not guarantee that a drug is absolutely safe and universally effective. Instead, it signifies that a drug is sufficiently safe and effective when used within the limits defined by its testing for indications, side effects, and contraindications. Even so, the demonstrated risks and benefits may change once a drug is tested in a larger and more diverse group of patients. More...

Advice on Taking Daily Low-Dose Aspirin

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts; www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com
A reader of our Health After 50 newsletter asks: “I’ve read that some people are aspirin resistant and do not benefit from the daily use of aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke. Should I be tested for aspirin resistance?” Here’s our advice. More...

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