Category: Medical Mondays

Should I Still Be Taking My Cholesterol Lowering “Statin” Prescription Drug My Doctor Prescribed?

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recently issued a new safety alert for ‘high dose statin’ drugs prescribed by Doctors to lower cholesterol in patients at risk for heart disease.

The FDA named the prescription drugs Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), and Pravachol (pravastatin), as well as the combination drug Vytorin (zetia/simvastatin) in the safety alert.

The warning stated that the use of these drugs in high doses may be linked to memory loss, diabetes, and muscle pain.

This was a general statement derived from a recent review of many different studies that were all part of the Women’s Health Initiative.

The conclusions made from the analysis of these studies are likely overstated.

Last year 21 million American patients were prescribed one of the statin drugs to lower their cholesterol and reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke.

The benefits of taking a statin drug to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke are indisputable from numerous studies over many years of research done on the statin drugs.

The side effects of these medications are of low incidence and the knowledge that blood sugars may worsen in some patients has been known for years and have been included in their package insert from the beginning of distribution of the drugs.

Any patient on one of these statins should never stop taking their medication on their own without first consulting their Doctor.

The bottom line is that for the patient taking a statin drug to help lower their risk of heart disease and stroke by lowering cholesterol, the benefits of these medications far outweigh the risk of raising blood sugar, forgetfulness or muscle pain.

However, any patient who has concerns that they have a significant side effect to their statin medication (or any prescription medication they take), please see your Doctor for advice on what you should do before stopping your medication.

Teen Depression: How Parents Can Help Prevent This By Promoting Physical And Mental Health

Teen depression is a serious problem that can cause long-lasting physical and emotional problems.

By promoting your child’s physical and mental health, you can help him or her handle stressful situations that might trigger teen depression.

There is no single cause of teen depression. Genetics and environment may play a role.

Some teens are more prone to depression than others:

  • Children of depressed parents.
  • Children who have anxiety or behavior problems.
  • Teen girls may be more vulnerable than teen boys.
  • Children with health problems, stress or the loss of an important person in their life.

Teens dealing with depression are more likely to experience teen pregnancy, abuse drugs and alcohol, and perform poorly at school and at work than other teens.

Teen depression is linked to an increase risk of suicide and suicide attempts.

How can parents prevent teen depression?

  • Praise your child’s skills. Self esteem and self perceptions are affected by poor performance in school, get involved with their teachers, praise their other strengths-whether in music, athletics, relationships or other areas.
  • Promote participation in organized activities. This will boost self-esteem and increase his or her social network.
  • Encourage physical activity. Have them get one hour or more physical activity a day.
  • Provide parental support. Remind your child that you care by listening, showing interest in his or her problems, and respecting his or her feelings.
  • Talk to your child. An early warning sign of teen depression is isolation. Set aside time to talk to your child.

If you’re concerned that your child will develop or has developed teen depression, consult your Doctor to find out about depression prevention programs or cognitive behavioral therapy as studies have shown taking extra steps such as these can help.

Can Apple Cider Vinegar Help You Lose Weight And Lower Your Blood Sugar Too?

Apple cider vinegar as been marketed in the United States in a variety of forms:

  • Acetic acid
  • Apple cider vinegar plus honey cocktail
  • Tablets
  • Cider vinegar
  • In combination with supplements, botanicals, and food products

Apple cider vinegar is made by pulverizing apples into a slurry and juice pulp, adding yeast and sugar to produce acetic acid.

Purported uses:

  • Weight loss
  • Lower glucose levels in diabetics
  • Arthritis
  • Asthma
  • Colitis
  • Food poisoning
  • Gastrointestinal and skin problems
  • Lower cholesterol

Dosage: 2 tablespoons in a cup of water 3 times a day (total dose 2800mg daily)

Recent preliminary studies have shown apple cider vinegar to lower postprandial and fasting glucose levels in type 2 diabetics.

There are also studies demonstrating apple cider vinegar to cause early satiety when taken with meals and resultant weight loss.

Possible mechanisms of action are thought to be slowed gastric emptying, inhibition of gastric enzymes, and inhibition of glucose uptake by muscle.

There is low to no risk to try apple cider vinegar.

How Does Your Doctor Keep Track Of Prescriptions Written For Drugs That Are Controlled By The DEA?

You may have been prescribed a pain, anxiety, insomnia or stimulant medication that is monitored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

These medications are called ‘controlled substances’ as they require your Doctor to have a specific prescription license to write for these.

The reason why the have to have this special certificate is these medications have potential for causing problems with abuse, dependence and addiction.

Definitions:

  • Drug abuse is the deliberate use of a medication beyond a Doctor’s prescription.
  • Drug dependence occurs when the body develops tolerance to the drug meaning higher doses are needed for the same effect.
  • Drug addiction occurs when a person has drug dependence but also displays psychological effects–compulsive behavior to obtain the drug, craving for the drug, and use despite negative consequences such as legal problems and job loss.

There are four categories that the controlled medications fall into:

  • Schedule II: high potential for addiction–morphine, opium, oxycodone, fentanyl, hydromorphone, methadone, meperidine, and the stimulants amphetamine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate.
  • Schedule III: moderate potential for addiction–hydrocodone (vicodin, vicoprofen) and codeine.
  • Schedule IV: low potential for addiction–darvon, darvocet, the anxiety medications xanax, klonopin, valium, ativan, versed, and the insomnia medications halcion and restoril.
  • Schedule V: low potential for addiction–the anti-cough, anti-diarrheal and analgesic preparations with limited amounts of codeine and hydrocodone.

How can your Doctor monitor how a patient has been filling their controlled substance prescriptions?

Your Doctor can login to a website hosted by the Colorado Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (CPDMP) to which all registered Colorado pharmacies must report to when dispensing all schedule II thru V medications.

The pharmacy must supply not only the name of the patient, specific medication and date filled but also the quantity and the Doctor who prescribed it.

A pharmacy can be fined for failure to comply with this requirement.

This website is accessible to all qualified Physicians, Dentists, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Veterinarians, Pharmacists, Podiatrists, and Optometrists practicing in Colorado.

Always be sure to follow the exact directions and warnings written on the bottle of all controlled substances and ask your Doctor if you are concerned about how you are taking any controlled prescription drug.

Recreational Noise: Are You Using Your iPod/Ear Buds At Too High A Volume?

There are over 175 million iPod users in the world today.

Blasting your iPod or another portable music player has now been shown to cause temporary and possibly permanent hearing loss.

Occupational noise exposure can lead to noise-induced hearing loss but less is known about the long term and short term effects of recreational noise.

Here are some of the facts we’ve learned from the University of Colorado and the Children’s Hospital of Boston research:

  • Many people assume there device has a maximum volume default setting that is safe.
  • Current devices will produce noise up to 115 dB at maximum volume, the level of noise from a chainsaw or rock concert.
  • At full volume damage can begin after just 5 minutes.
  • Listening at 80% of full volume or greater for more than 90 minutes per day can lead to damage to delicate hair cells in the inner ear.
  • Many people listen for longer periods of time due to longer lasting batteries delivering power for 15 hours or more and larger play lists.
  • The risk of damage increases the longer the period of time spent at higher volumes and can be permanent.

Here are some sound recommendations for use of portable music devices for you and your teens:

  • Always keep the volume at less than 80% of full volume. I recommend no more than 50%!
  • Limit the length of time you use your ear buds to less than 90 minutes.
  • If you can clearly hear the lyrics of the songs your teen is listening to when standing next to them, it is too high of a volume!
  • The louder the volume the less time it can take for your hearing to be affected.
  • Avoid turning up the volume to block out noisy surroundings, you should always be able to hear people speaking near you.

One of the first signs of damage is ringing in the ears (tinnitus), or hear muffled speech.

Get your hearing checked as soon as you suspect you have acquired any hearing loss.

Always remember that hearing loss can sneak up on you and can be permanent.

Noise induced hearing loss from music devices is completely avoidable!