Category: Drugs
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5 Times When You Should Never Drink
Alcohol is part of the fabric of America. It’s present at birthdays, wakes, intimate dinners, graduation gatherings and sporting events. As the one controlled substance that’s socially acceptable (marijuana may be legal in some states and cities but still has the taint of the forbidden), alcohol is the beverage of choice for celebrations, salutations and…
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What You Should Know about “Female Viagra”
Those little blue pills are ubiquitous in commercials featuring couples of a certain age, in the punchlines of late-night talk show hosts and even in celebrity headlines. Whether it’s Viagra, Cialis or Levitra, men have had a way to “get back in the game,” as pitchman Mike Ditka encourages, since 1998 when the Food and…
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Hydrogen Peroxide: When You Should, When You Shouldn’t
Explore most American home medicine cabinets, and you’ll likely discover a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. It’s long been the standard antiseptic of choice in most homes, used to treat small cuts, wounds, scrapes and burns. Some also use it for mouth irritations, dabbing it on canker or cold sores. The solution releases oxygen that causes…
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Five Conditions That Need Antibiotics
Antibiotics are among the wonder drugs of modern medicine. Their appearances created a new horizon for modern medicine, beating back the bacteria that made every operation a potential problem and treating diseases that were thought to have no cures. But nothing lasts forever, and that certainly applies to the use of antibiotics. The bacteria that…
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Common — and Dangerous — Drug Mix-ups
The most dangerous moment of any patient’s day? It may very well be the moment he or she takes those prescriptions. That’s because hundreds of thousands of patients are injured each year by mistakes in medication prescriptions, administration and dispensing. Mix-ups on medication happen when events occur that cause inappropriate ingestion or use of medications. …
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Can a Treatment Using Modified Polio Vaccine Fight Cancer?
We all know someone who has had cancer — and in some cases, brain cancer. But if you know someone who has had glioblastomas, they probably aren’t around to tell the story. That’s because this type of brain cancer offers odds that are anything but favorable. In fact, they’re downright lethal. But what if a…
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Have You Been Taking Your Medicine Too Long?
Almost half of all Americans – that’s 300 million and counting – are taking a prescribed drug right now. That doesn’t count the over-the-counter medications, vitamins, supplements and herbs that people take for medicinal purposes. But not every medication is meant to be taken for a lifetime. In fact, taking too much medicine is often…
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The Fastest-Growing Drug Addiction in America
When we paint a mental image of a drug addict, it usually involves someone skulking around in a dark alley, hoping to score from a sleazy dealer. But America’s fastest-growing group of drug addicts isn’t found on the streets. Instead, it could be the little old man or lady – or a family member —…
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The Pitfalls of Too Many Antibiotics
They were called miracle drugs when they first were discovered. Therapies like penicillin and other antibiotics ushered in a new age of medicine, helping to defeat bacterial infections, minimize surgery complications and fight the spread of disease. But bacteria are cunning creatures, and many of them have adapted to the treatments that used to destroy…
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8 Surprising Signs Your Teen Is Taking Drugs
It’s one complex word that no parent of a teen ever wants to think about. DRUGS. In a world where kids grow up much too fast, drugs are a reality that many parents have to face. And unfortunately, lots of parents are too tuned out to know the signs of a teen with a drug…