Avoiding
Harm From Your Medications
Pharmaceutical drugs have
saved and prolonged many of
our lives, as well as improving their quality. But
those drugs are a two-edged sword, since their side
effects can be
severe, and they can also damage our internal organs, especially after
long-term use.
There
is an
additional danger in pharmaceuticals (as well as in therapeutic herbs
and even
in some vitamin supplements): Many of us
who are old enough not to mind telling our true age, take several
medications
on a regular basis. They can
interact: Two medications might
conflict, or one might amplify another one, raising its effect to a
dangerous
level. They might also interact with
some foods, with some vitamin supplements, and with some herbal
supplements. Furthermore, some vitamins
and herbs, such as Vitamin E and Gingko Biloba, duplicate the effects
of some
pharmaceuticals and would thus increase the effective dosage.
If
you have
several doctors you may have been prescribed two medications that
contain some
similar or even identical components such as aspirin, blood-thinning
components, etc.).
All
of the
above situations can have serious and even life-threatening
consequences.
Unfortunately,
many rushed doctors are not sufficiently thorough in checking for
possible
interactions among the medications they prescribe, and they may not
even know
about other things you’re taking that can cause trouble.
Some of the larger pharmacy chains maintain
lists of all medications purchased by each of their customers, and a
database
of potential interactions. This
increases the chances that an interaction among your medications will
be
caught. (However, that is not certain.)
To
guard
against those events as far as possible, you should take the following
measures:
¨
Advise every one of your physicians and other health care providers of everything you’re taking, including
all vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplements.
Include a list of medications you’ve taken in
the past, particularly those that caused you trouble or were
ineffective.
¨
Keep a full written
medical
history, so that you don’t miss anything important when filling out the
history
form at a new health care provider.
¨
Report any side effects of newly-prescribed medicationspromptly to your
health
care provider . If the effects are
severe, an alternate medication might provide the same benefit with
less harm.
¨ If
you don’t buy all your medications at the same pharmacy, tell each one
of
everything you buy elsewhere. Don’t
hesitate to reveal that you don’t buy everything from them: You’re under no obligation to make anyone
them your sole source.
¨
READ the package insert for each medication. Pay
particular attention to (1) side effects, (2) possible
interactions
with other medicines, and (3) any foods or other things that should be
avoided.
¨
Make sure you know what each drug is for, and that you understand
everything
the doctor tells you about it. If
there’s something you don’t
understand, ask until you receive an explanation that is sufficiently
clear to
you. Don’t allow yourself to feel
rushed; the doctor’s time is valuable, but so is your life and well
being.
¨ The
abbreviated insert you get from some pharmacies may omit side effects
that have
been observed in only a small fraction of test subjects.
However, you could be part of such a
fraction, so read ALL the side effects.
¨
Review your list of medications on a regular basis.
Some medications are necessary only
temporarily. Ask your doctor whether
some of the drugs could be eliminated or their dosage levels reduced or. Based in part on an
article
in The Record newspaper, February 22, 2005 W. A. Shapiro |
6/30/05-930