MY TURN: Combating the opioid crisis in Idaho

Opioids have been part of the medical culture for thousands of years, with ancient cultures using them for various medical and religious purposes. Morphine, for example, was discovered in the early 19th century to ease pain, shorten coughs and treat battlefield wounds.

Obesity and medication use

While prescription medication use is high among all age groups in this country, especially among older adults, obese U.S. adults use more of a number of particular prescription drugs than adults of normal weight. These include medications to treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels (at the top of this most-used group), followed by drugs used to treat diabetes, asthma and thyroid problems, as well as antidepressants and painkillers. Obese patients were also as likely as adults over the age of 65 to be taking multiple medications at once. Members of both groups should understand that taking multiple prescription drugs increases the risk of "adverse events." With this in mind, a review with the pharmacist may be in order.

Does zinc shorten colds?

Head colds seem to be the bane of our existence. With a real cure continuing to elude us, we continue to try all variety of medications that will relieve head-cold symptoms and shorten the illness' duration. In this latter category of over-the-counter medications, it has been suggested that zinc lozenges or syrup would be effective. To find out, researchers recently analyzed data of 17 trials involving more than 2,000 individuals. They found that those taking zinc were able to reduce the duration of their colds by about a day and a half (compared with those taking placebos). Moreover, larger doses of zinc were found to work even better, especially among adults (compared with children).

Even nice kids get lice

When children get head lice, parents should remember that the presence of these tiny parasitic insects has nothing to do with dirt. Instead, lice infestations are related to the type of close contact that children are exposed to at school. In addition, children pose rather easy targets for lice because the little creatures are better able to cling to fine hair of thin diameter. Moreover, children often share combs, brushes, hats and other objects that spread lice. The first telltale sign of lice is usually itching behind the ears, on the scalp and at the nape of the neck. Treatment largely consists of an over-the-counter medicated shampoo or rinse containing permethrin or the recently FDA-approved comb-free shampoo ivermectin.

‘We can’t arrest our way out of this’

Police shine light on deadly fentanyl crisis in North Idaho

Police shine light on deadly fentanyl crisis in North Idaho

Cholesterol screening for children?

High cholesterol may be a problem largely associated with middle-age and beyond, but it may warrant attention much sooner. An expert panel has therefore recently issued a recommendation endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics that urges that all children undergo cholesterol screening at least once between the ages of 9 and 11, and again between 17 and 21, regardless of family history.

Calling attention to medical orphans

Aside from being associated with Mother's Day and Memorial Day, the month of May has also increasingly come to be known as Awareness of Medical Orphans Month.

A matter of timing

If you take prescription medication to control high blood pressure, a slight change in your daily dosing schedule may provide you with an important advantage. New research indicates that taking blood pressure medications at bedtime instead of in the morning reduces the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular problems by about two-thirds.

Migraine prevention

Medications that prevent migraines from recurring are only used by a small number of the roughly 15 percent of the adult population affected by the painful headaches. According to the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Headache Society (AHS), nearly 40 percent of migraine sufferers could benefit from preventive drugs, but less than a third of these individuals take them. New guidelines put forth by the AAN and AHS list several drugs that help stop migraines before they start. These include the anti-seizure drugs divalproex (Depakote), valproate (Depacon) and topiramate (Topamax), in addition to the beta-blockers metoprolol, propranolol and timolol. While all of these drugs have side effects, their benefit must be weighed against any potential downside.

Five deaths connected to overdoses

Police issue another warning about fentanyl

5 deaths connected to overdoses

Medication cautions for pregnancy-minded women

If you are pregnant or thinking about conceiving, you should know that there are risks associated with taking prescription painkillers. Various factors that influence the risk of birth defects include how much medication a woman takes, at what stage of her pregnancy she takes it and what health conditions she might have. With this in mind, women thinking about getting pregnant should discuss the fact with their prescribing physicians. Taking such prescription opioid painkillers as codeine, hydrocodone or oxycodone (Oxycontin) may increase the risk of birth defects in children of women taking these drugs. Taking these drugs just prior to pregnancy or during pregnancy is linked to a moderate risk of congenital heart defects among newborns.

Treating sinus infections

Sinus infections are painful occurrences that often lead physicians to prescribe antibiotics, often upon the urging of uncomfortable patients. In fact, sinus infections (also known as "acute sinusitis"), which produce severe cold-like symptoms of runny nose and headache, are the fifth most common reason for prescribing antibiotics among U.S. adults. Yet, a recent study shows that antibiotics do not help fight most sinus infections. The fact is that doctors cannot tell if a sinus infection is caused by bacteria or by a virus, in which case antibiotics are useless.

Low dose to no dose is no good

Doctors may prescribe a low-dose aspirin regimen to patients who have experienced heart attacks or strokes. Not only can a daily "baby" aspirin help prevent a second heart attack or stroke, it may also reduce the chance of having a heart attack or stroke among patients with certain risk factors (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or smoking). However, about half of those on daily aspirin regimens discontinue use for various reasons (including stomach upset and simply forgetting). This unauthorized halt of a daily aspirin regimen can pose significant dangers (increased risk of heart attack and death from coronary heart disease) to those who have cardiovascular disease. Consultation with the prescribing doctor is imperative before discontinuing daily doses of aspirin.

Pfizer maneuvers to protect Lipitor from generics

TRENTON, N.J. - Lipitor is so valuable that Pfizer is practically paying people to keep taking its blockbuster cholesterol medicine after generic competition hits the U.S. market this week.

Pain pills

Soaring generic drug prices draw Senate scrutiny

WASHINGTON - Some low-cost generic drugs that have helped restrain health care costs for decades are seeing unexpected price spikes of up to 8,000 percent, prompting a backlash from patients, pharmacists and now Washington lawmakers.

Are you one in a million?

It is estimated that half of American adults have at least one of the leading risk factors for heart disease: Smoking, hypertension or uncontrolled high cholesterol. By reducing these risks significantly, most of the two million heart attacks (and 800,000 of the resultant deaths) that occur in this country annually could be prevented.

Painkiller sales soar

Efforts to ease suffering may be fueling addiction

After leaving the hospital

Upon being discharged from the hospital, heart patients, in particular, are prone to making medication mistakes at home. In fact, one recent study indicates that more than half of patients admitted to hospitals for heart attack or heart failure subsequently make drug errors once they leave the hospital. Even well-educated patients who received special counseling and follow-up phone calls to ensure proper medication dosing had as much trouble following their drug regimens as patients left on their own. The most common mistakes made by patients of all kinds include not taking a prescribed medication, missing a dose, taking an incorrect dose, delaying filling out a prescription, and stopping a medication before indicated. The pharmacist can help avoid these common errors.

ADHD drugs perform better than assumed

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects an average 9 percent of U.S. children between ages 5 and 17, making it one of the most common childhood disorders. Because children affected by ADHD experience problems staying focused, hyperactivity, and disruptive/aggressive behavior, they are likely to fall behind at school and display risky behavior as teenagers. While such drugs as methylphenidate (Ritalin) may help children with ADHD concentrate better and control impulsivity, some argue that the prescription stimulants transform children into "robots" or "drug them into acquiescence." However, the latest research on the matter reveals that the ADHD children themselves do not agree. Many say that they still are the same people but they "just act a little better."

REFORM: U.S. drug costs grossly inflated

We have been hearing a lot about medical health reform lately from our government. This weekend I had an experience that relates directly to this situation.