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WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

Equal Effectiveness of Chlorthalidone and Hydrochlorothiazide for Treating Hypertension
August 2023
A recent clinical trial comparing chlorthalidone with hydrochlorothiazide found no difference between the two drugs in their effectiveness for preventing major cardiovascular events.
Thiazides (Water Pills): Best Initial Treatment for High Blood Pressure, Study Finds
May 2020
We summarize results of new research showing that thiazides or thiazide-like diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide (MICROZIDE), appear to be the most effective and safest medications for initial treatment of hypertension.
Nebivolol (BYSTOLIC): Limited Use for Hypertension
April 2018
When the beta blocker nebivolol was approved by the FDA in 2007, we advised readers not to use the drug until 2015, in accordance with our seven-year rule. Find out why we now have designated nebivolol as Limited Use and whether it is the right choice for treating hypertension.
Calcium Channel Blockers Plus Most Macrolide Antibiotics: A Dangerous Combination
April 2014
Learn about new evidence demonstrating the dangers of combining calcium channel blockers, a widely used class of drugs for treating high blood pressure, with the commonly used macrolide antibiotic clarithromycin and other related antibiotics. Also find out which macrolide antibiotic does not have this dangerous interaction with calcium channel blockers.
Drug Mix-Ups
June 2011
This article lists 355 drugs with names that are often confused with similar-sounding drug names. Find out what you can do to prevent getting the wrong drug.
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Can Make Blood Pressure Hard to Control
February 2009
Twenty different NSAIDS (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs) are listed in this article that can adversely affect your blood pressure control. The article discusses the way in which this happens and what you can do about it.
Watch out for Interactions Between Drugs for Erectile Dysfunction and Other Medications
January 2009
The article lists 56 drugs that can interact with the three drugs for erectile dysfunction (ED): sildenafil (VIAGRA), tadalafil (CIALIS) and vardenafil (LEVITRA). Eight of the drugs are either nitrates such as nitroglycerin or a certain group of high blood pressure drugs.In combination with ED drugs, these drugs can cause a dangerous fall in blood pressure that could lead to a heart attack or stroke. Thirty-two other drugs can inhibit the enzyme that helps the body to eliminate the ED drugs, resulting in abnormally high blood levels of the drugs and a potentially harmful "overdose" even though you are actually taking the recommended amount. The other 16 drugs speed up the metabolism of the ED drugs, thereby lowering the blood levels and reducing the effectiveness of the ED drugs.
Macrolide Antibiotic Drug Interactions
February 2008
The article discusses the adverse drug interactions between either of two widely-prescribed macrolide antibiotics, erythromycin (as in ERYTHROCIN) and clarithromycin (BIAXIN)and more than 40 other drugs that are listed in a table in the article. It also describes the nature of the adverse interactions that can occur.
A Review of Ranolazine (RANEXA) For Chronic Chest Pain
March 2007
Although the FDA medical officer in charge of reviewing ranolazine recommended that ranolazine's professional product labeling display a black box warning about potential disruption in the heart's electrical cycle, the drug does not have a black box warning.
The Widely Used Antibiotic Erythromycin And Fatal Heart Rhythm Disturbances
November 2004
You should not take erythromycin in combination with one of the interacting drugs listed in this article. If you are, you should contact your physician immediately. As mentioned above, erythromycin is an important antibiotic when used appropriately. Therefore, we do not recommend against its use when it is not used with one of these interacting drugs.
Massive Study Confirms That Inexpensive Water Pills (DIURETICS) Should Be Used First In Treating High Blood Pressure
February 2003
The results of a very large clinical trial designed to give a definitive answer to the decades-old question of which of four commonly used families of high blood pressure medications should be prescribed first was published in the December 18, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The answer is that the oldest drugs — known as the thiazide diuretics, or water pills — are superior in preventing one or more major forms of cardiovascular disease to the other families of drugs. DO NOT STOP TAKING ANY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING YOUR PHYSICIAN.