Beta Blockers
Dangerous, record-breaking heat has been battering the Northern Hemisphere this summer, putting people at risk for heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Scientists believe that hundreds in the Pacific Northwest have died, due to heat-related causes. Extra-high temperatures are perilous for everyone, but they are even more so for the elderly, people…
Have you heard the one about the 90-year-old patient who tells the doctor his right knee hurts? The doctor says, “You’re 90. What do you expect? You’re going to have joint pain.” The patient replies, “Well, doctor, that’s an interesting concept, but you know my left knee is the exact…
Prescription heart medications are so common — millions of Americans currently take at least one to treat everything from high blood pressure and high cholesterol to heart failure and stroke — that it’s easy to assume that they are easy on your system, that the side effects must be minor because so many people take them. Not so. One of the two top reasons patients give for not taking heart drugs as prescribed is “fear of side effects.”
If you spend any time talking about health with older Americans, the topic of beta blockers will inevitably come up. But what are they, and how dangerous is it to take them? And why do so many people seem to need them? “The number one use of beta blockers in…
This week in the news we were reminded again of body wisdom — the body is resilient and is designed to move you toward health. Read on: Biologics for Psoriasis and Arthritis The new drugs for psoriasis and arthritis are highly effective but come with significant risks. Biologics to treat…
Elderly nursing home patients prescribed a multitude of medications following a heart attack may live longer compared to those given just one drug, but it can come at a cost: It may negatively impact their quality of life. Researchers examined claims data from nearly 4,800 nursing home residents, most of…
Although beta blockers are usually given to patients following a heart attack, a new study indicates that the drugs do not help them live any longer than those not on the medications. Beta blockers work to lower the activity of the heart as well as lower blood pressure. They are…
Giving people a choice among medications they can take to treat a certain condition may not only result in a patient receiving greater benefit from the drug, but fewer side effects as well. Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand enrolled 60 students, ranging in age from 18…
When Beverly Wilkerson, 58, Sherman Oaks, CA, woke up with a pounding headache and jaw pain last summer, she popped two Aleve. (The recommended dosage is one at a time.) She forgot to take water and food with the pills. Later on, she took two more, again forgetting the water…