Understand This
Drugs Have Repercussions
Many North Americans are taking medicines for the long run when they’re only intended for the short run. This can have a huge impact on well-being. The January Reports on Health claims that one-third of Americans over the age of 55 take too many medications. Michael Steinman, an expert on ageing and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says, “Some medicines are more effective and safest when you use them for a specific and limited period of time.”
A study by Brummett, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery, says, “six percent of patients prescribed an opioid drug after surgery for minor procedures are still taking them six months later.” And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, taking an opioid for longer than three months increases addiction risk 15 times. This information should be posted on the front door of every doctor’s office. Patients should stop being wimps after minor surgery and use common sense about this potent painkiller. Experts say opioids should be the last resort for chronic or minor pain, but if prescribed, it should be a low dose for a short period of time. And that doctors should suggest other pain options such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve.
Society Needs a Wake-up Call
Seventeen million North Americans take daily heartburn drugs such as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec. Taking these drugs for a year or more increases the risk of heart attack, dementia and bone fractures.
Distracted Doctors
A Problem for Patients
Maybe this is the new norm, but if it is, patients have a problem. A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that a man suffering from numerous head injuries was seen in emergency accompanied by his wife. The doctor started taking the history of what had happened, but stopped in mid-sentence, pulled out his smartphone, read the screen, and began to text. Several times he waited for the response and texted again and again. The man’s wife, somewhat annoyed, asked what he was doing. The doctor replied, “It’s about dinner.”
Studies show that memory can be adversely affected by interruptions. This can lead to a number of tragic consequences. For instance, the wrong dose on a prescription. So this type of multitasking can kill patients, just as texting can while driving a car.
When I read this report it reminded me of my final lecture at the Harvard Medical School. One of my favourite professors told the class, “Remember to always make your patient feel as though he were the only pebble on the beach.”
Let’s keep the patient more important than the phone.
The dangers of
Drug Interaction
Drug interactions will always be a problem in medicine, particularly when patients are using an increasing number of them. A report just released in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says, “Commonly used antibiotics combined with a diuretic (water pill) can double the risk of sudden death in older patients”.
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TS) with brand names such as (Septra, Bactrim, Novo-Timel, Apo-Sulfatrim) is used to treat bacterial urinary infections. Spironolactone (Aldactone) is used to get rid of excess water in patients with heart failure.
The study involved 206,319 elderly patients who were treated with spironolactone over a 17 year period. Of these 11,968 people died suddenly and 328 of these died within 14 days after taking TS, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, norfloacin or nitrofurantoin.
Trimethoprim-Sulfa methoxazole can raise blood potassium and the risk increases when given along with drugs such as spironolactone.
The moral? One drug can be lifesaving but in combination they can kill.
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