To make sure you know how to beat the heat when you have diabetes, here’s what you need to know on how to handle hot weather to avoid any unexpected consequences affecting your diabetes.
Read MoreWhat happens if the skin test shows positive results for allergies?
Read MoreStaging of prostate cancer gives the doctor the information he needs to know on how big the tumor is, whether it has spread or not and if it has spread, where has the cancer gone to.
Read MoreLiver cancer is now the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in men and the eighth-leading cause of cancer death in women. Only one in five patients survives five years after a diagnosis.
Read MoreThe use of the very strong opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet, and Vicodin, is already well-known for their risk of physical dependence, drowsiness, breathing and heart problems, constipation and bowel dysfunction, fractures and depression. Now, a new study published March 14, 2017 in The BMJ finds that users of opioids who also use benzodiazepine such as Xanax or Valium for sleep or anxiety at the same time, are placing themselves at risk of a deadly overdose.
For the study data was collected on more than 300,000 privately insured patients, aged 18 to 64, who were prescribed a narcotic painkiller between 2001 and 2013. In 2001, 9 percent of those patients also had prescriptions for benzodiazepines. By 2013, that had increased to 17 percent which is an 80 percent relative increase. The finding from the data showed that those patients who were prescribed both types of drugs had twice the risk of ending up in hospital emergency rooms as did people who used only used opioids.
Nearly 30 percent of all fatal overdoses from narcotic medications also involved a person who was using a benzodiazepine at the same time.
This finding is not surprising as over the years, prescriptions for both narcotic painkillers and benzodiazepines have risen. The researchers with the study were not able to tell from the data whether the overdoses were intentional or accidental. The symptom that caused the patients to be rushed to an emergency room was due to suppressed breathing.
The takeaway from this study is that physicians need to assess the need for prescribing both an opioid medication along with a benzodiazepine medication. There is always the possibility some patients are using two different doctors to prescribe each medication separately in attempts to hide what medications they are taking together at the same time.
Some ways to help avoid this problem is for patients to always be completely truthful in informing their doctors as to what medications they are using. Another intervention that can be done is by having insurance companies help to monitor medications patients are using. In addition, electronic health records could be designed to flash a warning when a potentially dangerous drug combination is being prescribed.
It should be noted that this study was observational and does not prove that using both medications increases the risk of overdose.
Grow an aloe vera plant in your home and take advantage of one of Nature's best skin healers. The gel found inside the plant's leaves has been used to soothe sunburn and repair damaged and dry skin for centuries.
Read MoreA diagnosis of diabetes means much more than just paying attention to blood sugar levels.
Read MoreOnce your doctor has identified NAFLD, he is likely to perform numerous blood tests to fine tune his diagnosis and determine your condition's severity. These may include the following:
Read MoreThe lifelong condition of PsA is when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in both joints and skin.
Read MoreHPV is also known to cause cancers in the back of the throat, in an area known as the oropharynx. HPV is linked with about 70 percent of these types of cancers in the U.S. and the rates of these cancers are rising dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read MoreCorrelation between the higher a person’s BMI is, the higher the amount of the excretion of urinary oxalate.
Read MoreIn 2015, almost 20,000 Americans died from hepatitis C-related causes, most who were age 55 and older. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine at this time to prevent hepatitis C.
Read MoreHypertension or high blood pressure is the common condition of when blood pressure, the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels, is consistently high. Most of us are familiar with and have a basic understanding of it. But there is another type of hypertension we may have heard of but are not clear on exactly what is means. This hypertension is called pulmonary hypertension or PH and is when a person has high blood pressure in the lungs. It can also be referred to as pulmonary arterial hypertension or PAH.
Read MoreThe survival rate for people diagnosed with breast cancer is pretty good (80 percent recover and go on to live for at least 10 years) but the ordeal can easily be overwhelming. Still, there have been steady improvements made in both longevity and quality of life for those undergoing treatment.
Read MoreWhat if we could re-program immune cells in your body to recognize, seek out and destroy cancer cells?
Read MoreWhen we hear of a woman who has been diagnosed with cancer, most of us tend to assume it is breast cancer. Part of this is the fact breast cancer gets a lot of media exposure compared to other forms of cancer. But for women in the United States, with the exception of skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women and according to BreastCancer.org, for 2017 it is estimated that about 30% of cancers diagnosed in women will be breast cancer.
Read MoreA study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is negating previous studies that suggested a possible link between use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study included almost 31,000 men whose prostate cancer had not spread but were using (ADT).
Read MoreDepression is a common and serious medical illness affecting how you feel, the way your think and how you act. Feelings of sadness and or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed along with a variety of emotional problems can reduce a person’s ability to function at work and at home.
Read MoreIBS is a disorder affecting between 25 to 45 million people in the US who know all too well the disabling symptoms it can cause disrupting their lives. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is an intestinal disorder causing pain in the belly, gas, bloating, cramping, diarrhea, and constipation. Up to 1 in 5 Americans have chronic IBS with symptoms lasting for years or a lifetime.
Read MoreA vaginal yeast infection experienced one time can be bad enough but recurrent yeast infections can drive a woman crazy. The itching and burning accompanying a yeast infection has women who are desperate for relief. Many women blame yeast infections on certain foods they are eating. Going gluten-free or avoiding chocolate are common food foes often believed by some women to be the cause of their misery. Other women may blame it on sex avoiding sexual contact with their partner.
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