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 »

RSS   |  what is RSS?

Blog Speak

3 Nov 2009 | Lynne McTaggart - Wh... (jowddty)

The poisoned generation

Perhaps the most underappreciated health scandal in modern times is the fact that, every day, we are all subjected to some 80,000 drugs—virtually all of which have not undergone a single regulat... more »

23 Oct 2009 | Health from your Gar... (bshubbard)

Your good health is down to yo...

One thing is sure in this world:  only you can establish total wellness and health. Unless you want it, and are sufficiently motivated to gain it and keep it, no amount of outside support will su... more »

1 Oct 2009 | Lynne McTaggart - Wh... (jowddty)

DNA: it's not destiny

When we become ill, most of us lay the blame at the feet of our ancestors: my heart problem is like dad’s, who had a dicky ticker; I’m likely to get breast cancer because it’s what m... more »

RSS   |  what is RSS? more blog speak »

Forum Discussions

23:36 | Health Conditions (KiwiGal)

Re: Lung Cancer

Thank you for replying, Talia. And you are right in that it wasn't necessary for me to focus on her statement that her friend was highly intelligent (even though he had 7 chances in 8 that his can... more »

17:57 | Health Conditions (meike)

Re: eczema

You have to remember with excema, it is not the skin that is the problem, but the fact that your immune system (fight anmd flight mechanism) is overproducing anti-bodies or histamines. these erupt fro... more »

15:34 | Health Conditions (talia)

Re: Lung Cancer

Kiwigal, you are right, there was no specific question, but I sensed that some help and advice was being asked for and yours, being the first, gave a rather negative and slightly unenlightening r... more »

RSS   |  what is RSS? more discussions »