Are online pharmacies legitimate?

If you think that you'll get a bargain from an online pharmacy, think again. According to a 2012 analysis of nearly 1,000 online pharmacies by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which accredits online pharmacies and represents state pharmacy boards all over the United States, only around 3 percent appear to be legitimate. The NABP found that 85 percent of the online drugstores it looked into do not require a valid prescription from the consumer's physician, and nearly half provided foreign drugs or medications not approved by the FDA. While there are Canadian online pharmacies that are legitimately regulated, many websites that purport to be Canadian are not. Worse yet, you may not even get the drug you ordered.

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After being asked and not knowing, I decided to do some investigating about why people are panic-buying toilet paper.

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Medication-related weight gain

As if it weren't difficult enough to maintain normal body weight, some people actually put on pounds as a result of the medication they are taking.

Medications only work if you take them

One of the more worrisome aspects of keeping patients healthy is the fact that many do not take their medications. At the very worst, this compliance problem begins when patients with chronic conditions do not even pick up their newly prescribed drugs. This failure to comply with their prescribing physicians' recommendations places patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and other potentially life-threatening conditions at particular risk.

Generic-drug tsunami warning!

Patients currently taking prescription drugs should know that, over the coming months, an unprecedented number of expiring drug patents will unleash a virtual tsunami of generic drugs.

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.

Feeling feverish?

We have all been educated to think that 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average body temperature of humans and that anything above that reading indicates a fever. However, it's not really that simple. Rectal temperature, which most accurately reflects true internal body temperature, varies from 97.9 degrees F. (morning) to 100.4 degree F. (late afternoon). Oral, armpit and ear temperatures, which are less accurate and can be influenced by external factors, can be as low as 94.5 degrees F. To determine your personal "normal" temperature, take three readings (morning, noon and night) at any one of the four sites, and calculate your average temperature for each of the three times of day. Use those numbers as your base temperature.

What to take for arthritic knees

Osteoarthritis of the knees is a common problem, particularly after age 60. While low-impact aerobic exercise, muscle strengthening, and stretching can help increase range of motion and decrease pain, medications are often also necessary. If so, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends the following medications to control symptoms: no more than 4 grams of acetaminophen (Tylenol) per day; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) taken with food; cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, such as celecoxib (Celebrex); or topical NSAID diclofenac sodium (Voltaren Gel). These recommendations are designed to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. If they cannot be tolerated or greater pain relief is needed, a corticosteroid injection may be needed.

Is newer necessarily better?

Pharmacists can perform an important service to consumers by informing them about drug effectiveness. For instance, when an older drug is just as effective as a newer one and costs substantially less, the pharmacist may disabuse a patient of the widely held notion that something newer is necessarily better. Similarly, the pharmacist may help dispel the notion that, if something costs more, it is necessarily better. As a case in point, three of the oldest and least costly medications used to treat type 2 diabetes (metformin, glimepiride and glipizide), when taken alone or in combination, may be better first choices for diabetics than newer brand-name drugs like pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia) and sitagliptin (Januvia). It may pay to ask.

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