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methyldopa (ALDOMET)


DISEASE AND DRUG FAMILY INFORMATION

Search results below include Disease and Drug Family Information where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

High Blood Pressure
A study of nutritional therapy showed that over one-third of people who previously needed drug treatment for high blood pressure were able to adequately control their blood pressure with nutritional therapy alone.Several factors should be taken into account when considering whether your high blood pressure should be treated. One is the benefits of the treatment for your blood pressure, which vary significantly depending on how high it is, your age, and whether you have other risk factors such as high cholesterol or are a smoker or a diabetic, and whether you have had a heart attack, heart failure, a stroke, or have kidney damage. The other consideration is the risks or the adverse effects of the treatment, which will vary depending on what is being considered.
Opioids
Most of the time when someone is able to swallow, they should first try a non-opioid drug such as aspirin taken by mouth. If aspirin alone is not effective, it can be combined with an opioid, such as codeine. These two drugs work in different ways, and when they are used together, they generally relieve pain that would otherwise require a higher dose of an opioid, while causing fewer adverse effects.
Antipsychotic Drugs: Dangerously Overused
Antipsychotic drugs, also called neuroleptic drugs or major tranquilizers, are properly and successfully used to treat serious psychotic mental disorders, the most common of which is schizophrenia. In younger adults, an alarming number of those with schizophrenia who could and often have previously benefited from antipsychotic drugs are not receiving them. They are seen, among other places, on the streets and in homeless shelters. In older adults, the problem is not underuse but, rather, gross overuse by people who are not psychotic.
Depression: When are Drugs Called For And Which Ones Should You Use?
Ironically, one of the kinds of depression that should not be treated with drugs is depression caused by other kinds of drugs. If someone is depressed and the depression started after beginning a new drug, it may well be drug-caused. Commonly used drugs known to cause depression include the following:

DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.


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.

Massive Misprescribing of Inappropriate Drugs to Hospitalized Elderly Patients
September 2008
A nationwide study published in spring 2008 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine showed that nearly half (49 percent) of almost 500,000 hospital patients older than 65 have been prescribed one or more of 92 drugs known to be unnecessarily unsafe for older patients. 10,000 of these patients had four or more of these inappropriate medicines prescribed during their hospitalization. Among the most common categories of adverse drug reactions these inappropriately prescribed drugs can cause are excessive sedation, abnormally low blood pressure and bleeding. We list the 92 drugs in the article and give further details about the kinds of side effects these drugs can cause.
Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Certain Medications or Diseases
August 2008
The article discusses 273 drugs that can have harmful interactions with alcohol. Also reviewed are several ways in which these harmful interactions can occur: 1/ Medications Can Increase Alcohol Blood Levels 2/ Additive effects of medications and alcohol. One of the best- known drug-alcohol interactions is when alcohol, a depressant, is taken with other sedative medications, and excessive sedation or depression of respiration can occur 3/Alcohol can increase the blood levels of some medications leading to toxicity of these drugs. 4/ Alcohol also can reduce blood levels of some medications causing them to be less effective. Although some of the interactions between alcohol and medications mainly occur in people who drink heavily (three or more drinks on one occasion), many of these interactions may occur with much lower amounts of alcohol use, such as one to two drinks on an occasion. We strongly urge you to tell your physicians and other health care providers how much alcohol you are drinking so they can effectively assess the risks and advise you about the safe use of alcohol and medications.
FDA Public Health Advisory: Birth Defects with High Blood Pressure-Lowering Drugs Containing Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors
August 2006
Because of the risk of birth defects, you should contact your physician immediately if you are pregnant and are taking either an ACE or ARB inhibitor at any stage in pregnancy. DO NOT discontinue a blood pressure-lowering drug without first consulting the prescriber.
The Same Old Sad Story - Inappropriate Prescribing to the Elderly
February 2002
“Inappropriate medication use is a major patient safety concern, especially for the elderly population.” This is the first sentence of a study published in the December 12, 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The majority of the 33 drugs in this study have been on the market for years........