Most prescription drugs should be taken with extreme caution – but there are eight drugs that even doctors won’t use, even though they continue prescribing them to you.
The ‘deadly 8’, as listed by doctors in a poll, are:
- Advair, the asthma drug. It contains the long-acting beta-agonist salmeterol, and studies suggest this alone may be killing 5,000 asthma sufferers in the USA every year.
- Avandia, the diabetes drug. Studies have demonstrated it increases the risk of heart attack by 109 per cent and heart attack by 42 per cent. It can increase fluid retention and increase LDL cholesterol, which can clog arteries.
- Celebrex, the pain-reliever. Like many NSAIDs, it can cause stomach bleeding, kidney and liver damage. However this ‘super aspirin’, as it’s been dubbed, can cause serious heart problems, and can double your chances of dying from cardiovascular disease if you take 200 g twice a day, and you trople the risk if you take double that dose.
- Ketek, the antibiotic. It’s traditionally given to people with respiratory-tract infections, but it carries a higher risk of severe liver damage than similar antibiotics. Although its use has now been restricted to treating pneumonia, doctors still regular prescribe it for a range of infections.
- Prilosec, the acid-reflux remedy. This heartburn concoction is suspected of causing heart attacks; what’s certain is that it stops stomach acid production so effectively that it increases your risks for pneumonia.
- Nexium, another avid-reflux remedy, and ditto for Prilosec.
- Visine Original, drops to combat red eyes. These work by shrinking the blood vessels in the eye, but overuse can lead to almost continuous red eye that can’t be treated.
- Pseudoephedrine, the decongestant. This drug can raise your blood pressure and heart rate, and has been linked to heart attack and stroke.
(Source:
Men’s Health).
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