John Fodor’s Health Corner

During the past 50 years we have benefited greatly from new and improved medicines. Medicines that are now available have helped to prevent or control a number of illnesses and health conditions and have allowed people to live longer and to have more active and productive lives.

That’s the good news! But if not taken correctly, medicines can be a danger to your health. This is becoming an increasing problem as up to half of the people in the United States who are taking medicines do not take them correctly or as prescribed. Other things you should know about taking medicines include the following:

Medicines may cause side effects or allergic reactions, and may be affected by interactions with foods, drinks, or other drugs.

Combining alcoholic drinks with medicines can cause serious health problems. The combination of alcohol and medicines could render a person unconscious and could lead to death. It also could make a person drowsy and interfere with one’s reaction time, making it dangerous to drive. In addition, many popular painkillers and cough, cold and allergy remedies contain ingredients that can react negatively to alcohol.

Medicines can interact with other drugs being taken, which could result in serious health consequences. This drug interaction risk may even be greater for older adults as many older people often take a number of medications for different health conditions.

Medicines can react to medical conditions that you may have. For instance, if you have high blood pressure or asthma, these conditions could become worse if you take certain nasal decongestants (Medicines and you: A Guide for older adults, 2005).

Storing medicines improperly can also be a problem. For instance, if you keep your medicines in a poorly sealed container under high humidity the ingredients might break down so that the medicine does not dissolve properly in your body or causes them to lose their potency.

Carrying medicines in your pocket so that they are next to your body can raise the temperature, which can alter the medicines properties.

In summary, here are some of the things you can do to help make the medicines you are taking safer and more effective (Adapted from: FDA’s tips for taking medicines. (2005). U.S. Food and Drug Administration):

• Keep a record of all your current medicines, including their names and regimens (dose, time, and other instructions for taking)
• Write down any problems you have with the medicine so you can discuss them with your doctor or pharmacist
• Read labels carefully before taking doses
• Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before crushing or splitting tablets; some must be swallowed whole
• Contact the doctor or pharmacist if new or unexpected symptoms or other problems appear
• Even if symptoms disappear, be sure to finish all of a medicine prescribed for you
• Periodically ask your doctor to reevaluate long-term medicine use
• Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine the first time, especially if you are using other medicines
• Be sure to read OTC medicine labels for ingredients, proper uses, directions, warnings, precautions, and expiration dates
• Many medicines contain the same ingredients – be sure that you are not taking the same drug in more than one form
• Throw away outdated medicine
• Store medicine in the original container, where the label identifies it and gives directions
• Do not store medicine in the bathroom. Unless instructed otherwise, keep it away from heat, light and moisture
• Do not store medicine near a dangerous substance that could be taken by mistake
• In addition, if you take several medicines each day and store them in a special container sectioned off by the days in a week, be sure that the container meets proper storage standards so that they remain stable. Check with your pharmacist for proper medicine storage containers
• Never take someone else’s medicine
• Tell your doctor if you are allergic to drugs or foods, have diabetes or kidney or liver disease, follow a special diet or take dietary supplements, and use alcohol or tobacco.

Sources for this posting include:

FDA’s tips for taking medicines. (2005). U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/medtips.html

Tips on using medicines wisely. (2006). American Society of Consulting Pharmacists. Retrieved from http://www.seniorcarepharmacist.com/tips/

According to a study headed by Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, professor of epidemiology in the UCLA School of Public Health,THE ANSWER IS YES.

Findings of the study indicated that tobacco smokers who eat three servings of fruits and vegetables a day and drink green or black tea had a lower risk of developing lung cancer. There are several possible reasons for this:

1. These foods contain certain chemicals called flavanoids, which can block the formation of blood vessels that tumors develop. This prevents tumors from growing and spreading.

2. In addition, according to Dr. Zhang, when flavanoids stop cancer cells from growing, it allows for naturally programmed cell death.

3. Dr. Zhang also indicated that the antioxidant properties found in the flavanoids may also work to counteract the DNA-damaging effects of tobacco smoke.

The findings of the study are extremely important in that tobacco smoking causes more than 80 percent of lung cancers.

Obviously, quitting smoking is the best way to help prevent lung cancer, but if you can’t stop smoking, you may help reduce the threat of lung cancer by eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more green and black tea.

The findings of study may also be good news for non smokers. If smokers can benefit from eating foods that contain flavanoids, then, inasmuch as there are other causes of lung cancer, it follows that non smokers may also help reduce their chances of getting lung cancer by eating flavanoid-rich foods.

Note: The study was reported in the November 2008 issue of UCLA Public Health. It also appeared in the June 2008 issue of Cancer, published by the American Cancer Society.