Readers alert: drug side-effects

Digestion Drug: Why so many people take it, and so few need it

Every year doctors write out £7bn (US$13.9bn) worth of prescriptions for a drug group that’s designed to treat stomach acid and other digestion problems. And in up to 70 per cent of cases they’re wro... more>

A human guinea pig

With atrial fibrillation, a high pulse rate and elevated blood pressure, I’ve gone through at least seven different medications, prescribed by my GP, over the last two years. I’m 71 and could not tole... more>

Phenindione or warfarin?

Since December 2003 I have been taking digoxin (187.5 mcg) every day for atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm. I have experienced several side-effects, including tiredness and lethargy, espec... more>

Loss of taste from a drug cocktail?

My 84-year-old husband has been on a combination of drugs for the last five years. more>

Taking ramipril gave me angina

I was put on a new blood pressure drug as I was told that one of the drugs I had been taking for years had been found to be no good for hypertension. more>

Asthma drugs and immune function.

Can you tell me whether there is any research evidence that the asthma medications montelukast and zafirlukast can affect immunity? I suspect that taking these drugs for four years has eroded my immun... more>

Breast cancer drug can weaken bones

Have you any up-to-date information on anastrozole, which I have been taking for two and a half years, following breast cancer in 1996 and lymph-node secondaries in 2002? I sensed some concern regardi... more>

Doctors get hrt stroke benefit wrong.

Besides offering hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a quick-fix solution for menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings and weight gain, medicine has been using it as preventative medicine... more>

Parkinson’s drugs come under scrutiny

Levodopa’s ability to reduce the distressing symptoms of early-stage Parkinson’s disease has earned itself enough street cred to become the first-line treatment for the condition. However, there’s a f... more>

Adderall,

FDA sits and waits amid Adderall deaths. Many are aware of the dangerous side-effects of amphetamines, especially when they are used to treat children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD... more>

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