When Drugs Just Make Things Worse
~ by Jeff Noley
There are some drugs with side effects that are worse than what they treat. Or at the very least, are pretty rotten compared to the alternatives.
Avandia is one example of a drug you might want to rethink taking. Yes, diabetes is a terrible disease. But so is heart disease. And Avandia raises the chance of a heart failure by 109% compared to those taking other diabetes drugs. Exactly why hasn’t been discovered yet, but that’s not the point. Diabetics should steer clear of Avandia if they don’t want to compound their health problems. If there is no alternative to Avandia, ask your doctor about taking heart medications in conjunction with the diabetes drug to lower your risk.
Celebrex is another drug you should treat with care. It’s a pain relieve that causes pain – in the stomach, kidneys, liver, and heart. Just 400 mg of Celebrex a day have twice the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease than those who don’t. 800 mg a day tripled the risk.
Pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections are among the top-ten killers of men, but one of the medicines used to treat it can kill just as effectively. Ketek can affect the heart and damage the liver. It is far better to use one of the alternatives, such as Augmentin, doxycycline, or Zithromax.
In general, a drug-free life is a healthy one. But if you need medication, don’t blindly accept your doctor’s prescription. Visit the library and look it up in the Physicians’ Desk Reference, and check around online for testimonials or complaints from people taking it. Always ask what the alternative is, and do a search for one yourself. There are more than 4,000 prescription medications out there; your doctor can’t be an expert on all of them. But you can – and should – be an expert on anything you’ll be putting into your system.
