Eating grapefruit or consuming other grapefruit products while taking simvastatin to lower your cholesterol can lead to serious and dangerous side effects. Grapefruit interferes with an enzyme in the intestine that helps break down simvastatin and many other drugs. This can lead to dangerous levels of simvastatin staying in your system, increasing the risk and severity of side effects.
People use prescription drugs to treat diseases, disorders and medical conditions. The use of supplements and prescription drugs can help you improve your health, but when taken together may also counteract the effectiveness of...
Though most often present with EPA in fish oil supplements, DHA is also available as an algae extract that doesn't contain EPA. Before using DHA, talk with your doctor about the potential effects this supplement may have on pre...
You've probably heard that it's best to avoid prescription drugs during pregnancy. Actually, this is true of all pharmaceuticals -- prescription and over the counter -- because many pharmaceuticals can cross the placenta and af...
Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that plays key roles in the formation of red blood cells, neurological function and DNA synthesis. It is obtained from a variety of animal food sources, including red meat, fish, poultry, egg...
After a certain period of time, the medication is broken down, or metabolized, and eliminated from the body. The process of metabolism is performed by the liver and elimination is performed by the intestines and kidney. Prescri...
Prescription drugs can be primarily classified by type or mode of action in the body, active ingredient and chemical type. A medication may belong to more than one class and each class has several subclasses or groups. All pres...
The costs and sales prices of prescription drugs are ambiguous. The cost of drugs includes development, manufacturing, marketing and various layers of markups through distribution channels before they reach the consumer. "The N...
Physicians prescribe certain drugs based on safety and effectiveness of the medicine to treat a particular medical condition. Yet, how a prescription drug works in the body has an impact on the outcome and any side effects. Pre...
There are several causes of bone loss, and identifying this can help treatment. The NOF advises there are a variety of medications for the treatment of osteoporosis. These drugs are available only with a prescription from your ...
Drug awareness involves the dissemination of information about the consequences of drug use and abuse. In combination with parental supervision, drug awareness is a vital factor in keeping kids and teens off of drugs. Teaching ...
According to the National Institute of Health, a 2003 study found that 15 million Americans used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least once during the year. Medications prescribed for anxiety or sleep problems depr...
Prescription drugs can lose their effectiveness and may be dangerous if taken past their expiration date. The Harvard Medical School Family Guide says that nitroglycerin, insulin and liquid antibiotics may not retain their safe...
Different prescription drugs can cause different types of allergic reactions, and some of them may even cause more than one type of reaction. An allergic reaction can develop for various reasons. At times, it is because the whi...
Hydrocodone is the generic name for the ingredient that appears in Ibudon, Vicoprofen, Reprexain, Vicodin, and codeine. It is known to be habit forming, which prompts may doctors to limit prescription lengths. Understanding add...
Hydrocodone is a narcotic prescribed for moderate pain, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The most misused prescription drug in America, the first case of hydrocodone abuse was reported in 1961. Hydrocodone ad...
Chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs include the active drug and excipients, other substances that account for most of the weight or volume of a medicinal product and function to guarantee dosage, stability and bioavailability of ...
Anti-anxiety drugs serve as an the most widely-prescribed treatment for calming the nerves associated with these disorders. These medications function by slowing down the central nervous system. Benzodiazepines, a fast acting...
Physicians prescribe prescription drugs to treat and prevent diseases, disorders and abnormal conditions. Prescription drugs are chemical substances that can enhance, change or alter the structure or processes of the mind and b...
Prescription drug induced illnesses is a problem, particularly among the elderly, according to Public Citizen's Health Research Group. Illnesses caused by prescription drugs can be due to dose, interaction with other drugs or e...
Harmful effects from prescription drugs is growing, according to Donald Light, professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He says this is because new drugs are tested again...
These dangers include side-effects, drug interactions and abuse.
Prescriptions drugs are medicines that are prescribed by a health professional to treat or prevent a disease, disorder or medical condition. When drugs are misused or abused, they can become dangerous and lead to adverse health...
According to Drugs.com, a drug can be classified by the chemical type of the active substance or by the way it is used to treat a particular condition. Drugs can also be classified by the source of the active substance, potenti...
A vast slate of negative effects can result from the use of legal prescription drugs as well. Those who cast a wary eye on the unfettered use of medication as the solution to any ailment have good reason to do so. Prescription ...
Hydrocodone, which is often prescribed as Vicodin, and oxycodone, sometimes prescribed as Oxycontin, are safe, effective and rarely cause addiction when taken as prescribed, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. H...
Prescription drugs can cure diseases, reduce symptoms and enhance quality of life. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, defines the term drug as an "article intended for the use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, tre...
Prescription drugs treat a myriad of medical conditions. Each prescription drug must undergo clinical trials to determine safety and efficacy before the Food and Drug Administration approves it for marketing. Despite precaution...
Prescription drugs in the United States have passed rigorous clinical trials for safety and efficacy to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval. Most of these drugs are used to treat numerous conditions that range from mil...
Prescription antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as are all prescription drugs. Abuse of prescription drugs occur when the patient takes the medication in a manner or a...
Many prescription pain relievers contain chemicals that are related to opium. These narcotic pain relievers are very potent analgesics and can be used to relieve moderate or severe pain. However, because of the nature of these ...
Prescription drug abuse is defined as the use of a prescription medication in a way not intended by the prescribing doctor, according to MayoClinic.com. People who abuse their prescription drugs can take higher doses than presc...
Prescription drug abuse involves taking drugs prescribed to someone else or in dosages not recommended by the prescribing doctor. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this form of drug abuse is on the rise, especi...
A urinalysis to detect drugs, also referred to as a urine drug screen, detects the presence of illegal and prescription drugs commonly abused. Different types of urine drug screens exist, but most corporate drug testing program...
Dealing with a spouse who is addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol is extremely challenging. Many addicts exhibit behavior when they are intoxicated that is not normal for them and creates stress, anger and fear in a relat...
Vicodin is a combination of the drugs acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol, and the opiate hydrocodone. Opiates are a class of drugs derived from the opium poppy plant that include morphine, oxycodone, methadone, heroin, fentan...
Although illegal, many people share their prescription drugs. A 2009 study by Richard Goldsworthy and Christopher Mayhorn, reported in the "Journal of Adolescent Health," found 20 percent of adolescents surveyed nationwide shar...
Hydrocodone is an opiate used to treat pain while acetaminophen enhances the effect of hydrocodone. Vicodin was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1983. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 20...
Prescription medications offer solutions to injury or illness, mental disorders and dysfunction to organs in the body. The drugs work well when used properly, relieving a variety of symptoms, though minor side effects may occur...
When taken as prescribed, Vicodin is an effective treatment for pain. However, it is also one of the most frequently abused prescribed painkillers and can become dangerous long term. Unfortunately, someone taking Vicodin to tr...
A huge risk from abusing prescription drugs includes dependency because the constant ingestion of drugs affects the brain chemistry. Like other abused drugs, the brain continues to want more of the substances it has received re...
Its active ingredient, oxycodone, is delivered in a tablet form over a 12-hour period. The therapeutic range of dosing is from 10 to 160 mg. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration suggests that while most...
Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic condition with little known about the cause and no clear treatment. The symptoms of fibromyalgia include fatigue, unexplainable pain and muscle tenderness, depression, and gastrointestinal diff...
Further, alcoholism negatively affects a person's social, occupational and health functioning, according to MayoClinic.com. Several options are available to help a person committed to ending alcohol abuse.
Prescription drug addiction is an increasingly common problem in the United States, including among adolescents. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 20 percent of high school students have take...
Spending on medication in the United States rose 4.9 percent to $227.5 billion in 2009, according to "Formulary: Policy Watch." The rise in drug costs reflects the use of many nongeneric drugs. Brand-name drugs cost more than g...
Prescription drugs belong to the western medical system. They have saved countless lives and improved the lives of countless others. But they do have their drawbacks. Most prescription drugs have side effects, some of which are...
Pharmaceutical companies bringing a new prescription drug to market typically patent the medication, giving the developer exclusive rights to sell the drug for a set period of time. After the patent expires, other drug manufact...
Abilify, known generically as aripiprazole, is classified as an atypical antipsychotic. According to the National Institutes of Health website DailyMed, it is used to treat schizophrenia, some symptoms of autism, bipolar disord...
Many patients are first exposed to prescription drugs after a severe injury or surgery that requires a stronger form of medication than those available over-the-counter. Some patients become accustomed to the relief they experi...
Prescription drug labels contain a lot of information that can be difficult for patients to decipher and understand. According to a study published in 2008 in the "Journal of General Internal Medicine," four out of five patient...
Painkillers come in many variations and treat mild to severe pain. These medications include over-the-counter and pain killers available only by prescription. The strongest painkillers are prescription medications and are used...
Not only are doctors prescribing more drugs for health problems than ever before, but online pharmacies make it easier for people to get prescription drugs without a prescription. Learning about the dangers of prescription drug...
Doctors and health professionals train to administer prescription drugs because of the possible dangers. Although prescription drugs provide many health benefits in treating illnesses, when misused, prescription drugs can lead ...
If you have Medicare, you are eligible for Medicare prescription drug coverage, sometimes called Part D benefits. You must enroll in a Prescription Drug Plan, or PDP, in order to receive this coverage. The type of prescription ...
Without healthy cartilage, bones rub together to form bone spurs, or humps of bone in the joint. Bone spurs can cause pain, swelling and joint stiffness in the morning or after inactivity. Arthritis is first treated with conser...
All medications originally had generic names before the companies that developed them marketed them under their brand names. As long as patent protection applies to a drug, only the creator of the medicine can sell it under tha...
However, negative side effects also exist including disorientation and altered perception. Use of the cannabis plant remains controversial since it is illegal. However, the last few decades have found medicinal benefits of usin...
The levels of medication may work differently within a woman's body because of its cycles, the National Institutes of Health report. Women also have different needs for medications as well as different health issues than men. P...
A 2002 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that of more than 2,500 surveyed adults in the United States, 50 percent were taking at least one prescription medication in the preceding week. Wh...
Medication manufacturing has become a multi-billion dollar business, CNNMoney.com reports, and people will pay a lot of money to solve or treat their medical problems. Newer drugs supplant older drugs, but many of the older for...
For many drugs, once patent protection expires, the next step takes them from behind the pharmacist's counter to over-the-counter spaces. Whether they still retain patent protection or they are too dangerous for uncontrolled us...
Although these drugs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and benefit patients they are prescribed to, prescription drugs are addictive and dangerous when abused. According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use a...
Selecting the right Medicare prescription drug plan is one of the most important and challenging decisions retirees have to make. This decision may come up annually, because drug plans change often. Making the wrong decision ca...
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that affects individuals who have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. If you suffer from too much sleep, or oversleeping, it can be a confusing condition. The National Sleep Foundation ...
king unknown prescription drugs may start in the teenage years because of experimentation. Children may experiment as early as age 12. These drugs are available quicker and easier then "street" drugs, such as marijua...
The number and type of prescription drugs has changed over the years as new advancements in medicine have adapted to the most common ailments. According to a comprehensive report by IMS Health, the most common prescription drug...
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise with teens. Some teens abuse prescription medication at parties to feel high, some take them to deal with untreated mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression and some teens pop p...
A migraine is a headache that creates moderate to severe pain, usually on one side of the head. The pain is described as pulsing, or throbbing, and is often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light, sounds and smells. Mi...
NDIC also states that around 21 percent of the U.S. population uses prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. Prescription drug abusers may consume these medications along with alcohol or other illicit drugs to attain a hero...
The medication can relieve suffering for people with chronic pain, reduce anxiety and sleep disorders, or provide help for those with such conditions as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But drugs can be abused w...
This one-step test screens for 10 commonly abused drugs. Craig Medical Distribution attests that 95 percent of misused drugs can be detected using the 10-panel drug screen. These tests are often used by employers, la
The obvious problem is that you don't want to take the 10 percent of medicines that are no longer safe or effective. There are several reasons to avoid expired prescription drugs.
These drugs, used in accordance with medical guidelines, can maintain health and sustain life. However, when prescription medication is abused, these drugs can produce harmful side effects equal to many illegal drugs such as co...
Xanax is an anti-anxiety and anti-convulsant medication belonging to the benzodiazepine class of pharmaceuticals. While there are a number of drugs that belong to this family of prescription medicines, it is important to rememb...
Any use of a prescription drug beyond the medical intention is considered prescription drug abuse. This is a growing problem throughout the world. Researchers point to the ever-increasing availability of prescription medication...
Opioids, also known as pain medications, are some of the most abused types of prescription medications, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Many people rely on pain killers to relieve pain after surgeries ...
Although this pain medication is legally prescribed in the United States, some people may become addicted to it. People who abuse OxyContin may develop tolerance to this drug after repeated exposure, requiring the user to take ...
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a patient abuses pain medication by taking it without a physician's prescription or taking in a dosage other than that which it was prescribed.
Topamax is a prescription anticonvulsant drug used to prevent seizures and migraine headaches. It does not relieve migraines that have already started. A brand name for the drug topiramate, Topamax also is effective for weight ...
The promise of inexpensive prescription drugs has lured many abroad to fill their prescriptions. Whether purchasing online, through a mail-order pharmacy or traveling by car, everyone from those on a fixed income to those looki...
Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in the United States, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which states that approximately 20 percent of the population has misused prescription drugs at some point in ...
It seems that for every ailment, there is a pill. While modern medicine offers a host of options for the ill, some of these remedies are risky, resulting in addiction to potent medications for pain. To help reduce the risks of ...
It is possible to become addicted to prescription medications. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the most addictive prescription medications are opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants and stimulants....
Prescription drugs are not the only medications that are abused or misused. Over-the-counter medications may not be habit forming, but that doesn't decrease the amount of damage that can be caused by mixing and misusing them. O...
Suboxone is a medication used to treat opioid addiction, according to Drugs.com. Opioids refer to drugs such as morphine, heroin and codeine.
"Prescription drug abuse," according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is the term for taking prescribed medications inappropriately. This may include taking drugs not prescribed to you, taking an excessive amount of dru...
According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 20 percent of the American population has engaged in some form of prescription drug abuse--using prescriptions in a manner in which they were not prescribed. This includes t...
Parents need to ensure their children learn this is not the case and that misusing prescription medications could have very serious repercussions. Luckily, talking to your child about prescription drug abuse may not be as diffi...
Abusing prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can have serious consequences, according to doctors at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Abuse occurs when someone takes prescription drugs that were not prescrib...
With health care costs, as well the price of prescription drugs skyrocketing, some Americans are looking at Canadian pharmacies as an alternative for purchasing medication. In fact, a report prepared for Congressman Henry Waxma...
The Prescription Drug Assistance Program, otherwise known as the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, is a program that helps uninsured or under-insured patients receive free or low-cost medications. The organization is a p...
Prescription drugs have their place in our medically advanced society. There are many diseases people would die from if not for prescription drugs, and some prescription drugs seem to make life easier when you have a small ailm...
While street drugs are by definition abused, there are also several types of prescription drugs that are frequently misused. People can get them by abusing their medical appointment privileges and seeing multiple different phys...
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.2 million people over the age of 12 in the United States abused some form of psychotherapeutic prescription drug the month before the survey in 2007. The non-medical us...
Prescription drugs are used to treat symptoms of illness or disease. They are distributed with brand names and generic names. Both forms of drugs are tested for efficacy by the Federal Drug Administration. The big difference is...
Prescription pharmacy drugs are used to treat symptoms of an underlying condition. They come in many forms and strengths, and they are taken one to three times a day. They are generally effective, but they can also have side ef...
Prescription drugs are life saving. However, they are also often very expensive, sometimes even above what the insurance company will pay. It is crucial to utilize ways to find cheap prescription drugs. It is dangerous to go wi...
Fortunately, pills can commonly be identified by their characteristics, which include their shape, color and other identifying markings. There are many online resources that can help you identify a prescription drug by its shap...
The act of willingly seeking out another person's prescription or manipulating one's own prescription to feed a habit or achieve some personal gain is illegal. People who become addicted to prescription drugs often find illegal...
Drug abuse is a serious behavior that can have dire consequences if not addressed or treated. The abuse of prescription drugs is a very serious issue and many families find themselves dealing with how to help their troubled tee...
Prescription drug addiction affects millions of people on a daily basis. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, addiction and abuse of prescription drugs ranks second in the United States as the most serious d...
The most obvious symptom of painkiller addiction, according to research at the Mayo Clinic, is the need to use the drugs despite the consequences. There are a variety of other symptoms that may be observed by the addict, health...
Just because a substance was obtained legally or has a legitimate medical use does not mean that it cannot be abused. When not used properly, use of prescription drugs can lead to major health problems, addiction and death. Pr...