Natural Health Help

There’s a lot of bad news about drugs. Some of the biggest sellers, the ones that block stomach acid, like Zantac, Prilosec and Tagamet, cause a nearly 250% increased risk of dementia. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) the risk of hip fracture increases by 22% after one year and nearly 60% after four years in people using similar gut “soothers” like Prilosec, Nexium, Prevacid. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that the diabetes medication, Avandia, will increase the risk of heart attacks by up to 40%. Hormone replacement therapy for women and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been taken off the market after thousands of people were made ill or died from drug effects.

This story of medications causing dangerous, sometimes fatal, adverse effects is not new. As long ago as 1998 the FDA concluded that fatal drug reactions for hospital patients “appear to be between the fourth and sixth leading cause of death”. The rate of fatal drug reactions has not changed for the better since. Prescribed drugs kill more than 100,000 people annually. It’s clear that medications can be very dangerous as well as very helpful. We always have to balance out the potential risks with the potential benefits of using medications.

During a medical emergency it makes sense to let the experts take care of you in the moment. When you are dealing with a long term chronic condition however, it makes sense for you to be very thoughtful about how you want to proceed. In order to think well about the decision to use drugs, you need information.

Information is very available via the internet. You also need what might be called perspective, to help you sort through that information. Perspective is something we get by actually experiencing something, rather than just reading about it. Since you don’t necessarily want to experience a drug simply to gain perspective, you will want your doctor to share his or her perspective with you. Your doctor’s experience with probably a large number of people using a particular treatment is very valuable to listen to. You will want to ask lots of questions, to understand as much as possible about your doctor’s commitment to a drug treatment. Their excitement- or lack of it- for a particular plan of care, can tell you a lot about what you might expect from the experience. Always consider getting a second opinion from another doctor or health care provider. Talking with other people in similar health circumstance who are taking the drug can also be useful.

The idea that drugs can be useful tools to stabilize you in an urgent circumstance, while you learn how to make the changes you need so you no longer need the drug, is an important idea to bring to your perspective on taking a drug. You can think of medications as a support system that you can lean on, temporarily, while you learn about what you’ve been doing in your life that lead you to the trouble you’re in. There are many chronic conditions- arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, gut distress of all kinds, allergies and skin conditions are just a few examples—that are directly related to your lifestyle choices. Using drugs to give you some time to learn how to improve your health habits is a smart way to use them.

Some human conditions really require the life-long use of medications for a person to have a comfortable and enjoyable life. It is marvelous to have the advantages of 21st century medicine if you suffer from an inherited disorder or an acquired disability that is somehow permanent. Anyone can minimize the amount of medication that they need to take, and can protect themselves from some of the harsher side effects of required medication, by optimizing their health. Naturopathic physicians are particularly well trained to help you transition from a drug-dependent person to someone who is smart about and skillful with your own health.

To find a naturopathic physician near you, go to: www.naturopathic.org and use the Find a ND feature. You can also visit my website: www.drnandunne.com, and select the Links feature, to find out lots more about how a naturopathic perspective can help you use drugs well- or, not at all.

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