Search results below include Disease and Drug Family Information where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion
Vitamins and Minerals
[hide all summaries]
One promotional strategy of supplement suppliers is to make people worry about whether they are getting enough nutrients. But do most people really need to take vitamins and minerals to supplement their diets? Or are they a waste of money? Are there better alternatives to taking supplements to ensure adequate nutrition? This section will attempt to answer these questions and help you sort through the fact and fiction surrounding nutritional supplements.
Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles
Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion
Extended-Release Niacin (NIASPAN): Now Designated as Do Not Use
[hide all summaries]
(April 2018)
Extended-release niacin is approved by the FDA to reduce elevated cholesterol levels and to reduce the risk of recurrent, nonfatal heart attacks in patients with histories of previous heart attacks and elevated cholesterol levels. Learn why we just changed the designation of niacin extended-release tablets from Limited Use to Do Not Use.
Spironolactone: Review of a ‘Water Pill’
[hide all summaries]
(March 2017)
Spironolactone is a diuretic (water pill) that has been used for decades to treat certain patients with high blood pressure, heart failure, swelling (water retention) and other conditions. Find out who is most likely to benefit from using this drug and who should avoid it because of its dangerous adverse effects.
29 Medications That May Cause Adverse Interactions with Thyroid Drugs
[hide all summaries]
(September 2008)
Thyroid medications are among the most widely-prescribed drugs in the U.S. In this article, we review 29 different medications that can have harmful interactions with thyroid medicines such as levothyroxine (Synthroid). There are four major kinds of interaction problems that can occur:
• Certain medications can decrease the absorption of levothyroxine resulting in lower levels in the blood.
• Other medications can increase the rate at which the body gets rid of levothyroxine, also resulting in lower thyroid levels in the blood.
• Other medications can cause changes of levothyroxine binding in blood, decreasing the body's ability to use levothyroxine.
• Levothyroxine can affect the safety or effectiveness of other medications by raising or lowering the levels of these other drugs in the blood, causing them to be either infective (lower levels) or dangerous (higher levels).
Drug Interactions: Warfarin (COUMADIN)
[hide all summaries]
(December 2007)
This article explains how to understand the International Normalized Ratio (INR), a test applied to a sample of a patient’s blood to determine how “thin” it is when you are using the blood thinner COUMADIN (warfarin). In addition, the article lists more than 50 drugs or dietary supplements that can interact harmfully with COUMADIN to cause the blood to be too thin (abnormal bleeding) or not thin enough which could result in lessening the effect of COUMADIN in stopping blood clot formation.
Do Not Use! New Safety Warning Added to the Arthritis Drug Valdecoxib (BEXTRA)
[hide all summaries]
(January 2003)
There is an additional similarity (aside from our listing both as DO NOT USE drugs) between valdecoxib and celecoxib, both are sulfa drugs and individuals who are allergic to sulfa drugs should not use them. Although celecoxib came on the market with a warning about sulfa drug allergy, valdecoxib did not. We previously wrote “It may be a dangerous oversight on the part of the FDA not to have required the same warning for valdecoxib.” Unfortunately, because uninformed patients have been needlessly harmed, our prediction has come to pass.