Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
Medications and treatments Archive
Articles
Gout drug may help prevent repeat heart attacks
Research we're watching
A drug long used to treat a painful form of arthritis called gout may also benefit heart attack survivors, according to a new study.
Derived from the autumn crocus, colchicine (Colcrys, Mitigare) helps to ease the joint inflammation and pain that characterize gout. Because mounting evidence suggests that inflammation plays a role in heart disease, researchers have tested various anti-inflammatory drugs in heart patients. The latest study, published online Nov. 16, 2019, by The New England Journal of Medicine, tested colchicine against a placebo in 4,745 people who had experienced a heart attack within the previous month. All the participants also took standard drugs to treat heart disease, including statins, aspirin, and other clot-preventing drugs.
Marijuana use linked to higher risk of stroke in younger adults
Research we're watching
Younger adults who use marijuana appear to face a higher risk of stroke compared with those who don't use the drug, according to a report published Nov. 11, 2019, in the journal Stroke.
Researchers pooled data from a nationally representative survey from the CDC that included nearly 44,000 participants ages 18 to 44. About 14% reported using marijuana within the past month. Young adults who recently used marijuana were 1.8 times more likely to experience a stroke compared with nonusers. The risk was 2.5 times higher among frequent users (more than 10 days a month). Frequent marijuana users who also smoked regular cigarettes had three times the risk for nonusers.
How long does a drug stay in my system?
On call
Q. I started having side effects from a prescribed drug. I stopped taking it, but the side effects are still there. How long does it take for a drug to be out of your system?
A. Most drugs will be out of your system quite quickly, but the symptoms of side effects may remain for some time. It depends on the medication and what kind of side effect has developed. The majority of prescription drugs are cleared out of your body rapidly by your kidneys and liver. Trace levels of a medicine may remain in the system while the liver and kidneys finish their filtering job. But these levels are often too low to have any noticeable effect. Patients with kidney or liver disease, however, can continue to have elevated blood levels of a drug even after stopping it.
Taking blood pressure medication at bedtime instead of the morning can reap greater health benefits
In the journals
People with high blood pressure may benefit from taking their antihypertension medication at bedtime instead of the morning, according to a study published online Oct. 22, 2019, by the European Heart Journal.
The researchers looked at about 19,000 people (most of them men) who took blood pressure medication. Participants took their daily dose either upon waking or before going to bed. Everyone's blood pressure was checked over 48 hours once a year for six years.
The growing problem of drug-resistant UTIs
Urinary tract infections can be dangerous. Here's how to recognize, treat, and prevent them.
More than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections now occur in the United States each year, according to a CDC report published in November 2019. Among them are a growing number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) that can no longer be treated with the most common antibiotics.
"Antimicrobial-resistant UTIs are on the rise and have been since the early 2000s," says Dr. Lisa Bebell, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and an infectious diseases specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital. This trend is especially concerning for women because UTIs are so common: one of every two women will have a UTI in her lifetime.
Is nighttime the right time for blood pressure drugs?
Taking these medications at bedtime rather than in the morning may make them more effective.
Many people take their medications as part of their morning ritual, along with a cup of coffee and the daily newspaper. But for blood pressure drugs, evening may be a better option. Last year, a large study found that taking blood pressure drugs before bed may lower the risk of serious heart-related complications more than taking the drugs in the morning (see "Benefits of bedtime blood pressure dosing").
The concept of chronotherapy, or adjusting medication dosing to a specific time of day, isn't new. There's not a great deal of evidence to support the practice with cardiovascular drugs, but it makes sense, says Dr. Naomi Fisher, director of the Hypertension Specialty Clinic at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Tips to minimize the risks of anesthesia
Careful planning may help you avoid side effects.
It's always concerning when the doctor says you need a procedure that requires anesthesia. On top of worries about the procedure itself, you may wonder how you'll react to anesthesia, especially now that you're older. The answer is complicated.
Aging changes everyone's basic physiology. Anesthesia introduces some risk, but less so than the risk from underlying health conditions, the surgical procedure itself, and the care you receive after surgery," says Dr. Angela Bader, an anesthesiologist and founding director of the Weiner Center for Preoperative Evaluation at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Can mind-body therapies help reduce reliance on opioids?
News briefs
A large study published online Nov. 4, 2019, by JAMA Internal Medicine offers hope for people who want to reduce their reliance on opioids. The powerful prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), are typically used to treat severe pain after surgery, pain with terminal illness, and chronic pain. But use of these drugs comes with the risk of dependence, addiction, overdose, and death. So researchers set out to determine if mind-body therapies (such as meditation or hypnosis) could help ease pain. Scientists reviewed 60 randomized trials with more than 6,400 people taking opioids for reasons such as surgery, burns, cancer, or chronic pain. Researchers noted moderate to large improvements in pain among people who added meditation, hypnosis, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or therapeutic suggestion to their pain control regimens. Meditation, hypnosis, and CBT were so effective that people were able to slightly reduce the amount of opioids they were taking. Two other therapies — relaxation therapy and guided imagery — did not have a significant impact on pain. The great news: you have nothing to lose by adding one of these mind-body therapies to your regimen, and it may even help.
Image: FatCamera/Getty Images
Can I do anything to prevent osteoporosis?
Ask the doctors
Q. I know that osteoporosis is linked to hereditary factors that I can't change. But are there things I can do to reduce my risk?
A. It's true that many risk factors for osteoporosis, such as your sex, age, and genes, are not things you can change. But there are things you can do to improve your bone health. This includes adopting a healthy diet that is rich in calcium and getting enough vitamin D, which can help maintain and improve bone health. Regular exercise can also help strengthen your bones or prevent bone loss. In particular, activities that put stress on your bones, such as jumping, running, and weight-bearing exercises, can stimulate bone cells to produce proteins that bolster bone strength. In children, these activities can actually increase bone density. While adults don't gain the same degree of benefit that kids do, exercise can still have moderate effects on bone, helping to maintain strength that might otherwise be lost. To further protect bone health, cut down on unhealthy habits, such as smoking or drinking excess amounts of alcohol. If you have risk factors for osteoporosis, you might also want to talk to your doctor about whether any of your medications might be harming your bone health.
5 common medications that can have serious side effects
Report new symptoms immediately if you take one of these.
Taking blood thinners and prescription painkillers such as opioids can have potentially life-threatening complications. But many medications — even over-the-counter drugs — have the potential for dangerous side effects. "In most cases, the risk of serious side effects is very rare — much less than 1% of the time," says Dr. Joshua Gagne, a pharmacist and epidemiologist with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
If you're taking any of the following drugs, learn the rare risks.
Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
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