terça-feira, 3 de maio de 2011

A Combination Of Grapefruit And Prescription Medication May Be A Deadly Mix



By Dr. Michael Pritsker, DC

If you are taking certain medications and eat grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice you may be a ticking time bomb. I read a true story that shocked and surprised me. I bet it will shock and surprise you too. Here is why this is so surprising. In this story, a retired gentleman spends his summers up north and winters in the south as many do. This is what natives call a snowbird in the east coast. Two months after coming to sunny Florida, this retiree dropped dead. Doctors believe the cause was a deadly interaction between the two to three glasses of fresh grapefruit juice he drank everyday and his cheap cialis that he took also. Drinking grapefruit juice and eating grapefruit can be deadly for people who take certain medications, according to a paper. In this particular case of the snowbird, the fatal interaction is believed to be between the grapefruit and Lipitor.

The victim had high cholesterol and other risk factors for heart disease. For this, doctors put him on Lipitor and he began a diet and exercise program. Two weeks after going to Florida for the winter, he went to the emergency room complaining of muscle pains, fatigue and fever. That's where he went into kidney failure and died. Although experts know the problem exists, most laymen and health care professionals are still in the dark about the deadly risks, even though the FDA requires all prospective new drugs to be tested for interactions with grapefruit juice, and a warning about grapefruit juice is included in the "food-drug interactions" that come with dozens of medications.

Since grapefruit juice is metabolized by the same enzyme in the liver that breaks down many drugs that are taken, it is one of the foods most likely to cause interactions with drugs. When the system is overloaded with too much, scientists said the grapefruit juice can swamp the system, keeping the liver from doing its complete job. It blocks it from breaking down drugs and other substances.

Scientists say that the most severe effects are likely with some statins. While the liver devotes its resources to the grapefruit juice, the cheap cialis can build up to dangerous levels. This causes a breakdown of the body's muscles and even kidney failure. This eventually can lead to death.

So here is a tip. If you are taking any prescription medication especially when it comes to statin drugs, be sure to ask your primary doctor about the possible interactions with grapefruit juice. You should also read the warning labels on your medication bottle. Even though there may be a lot of fine print in these labels, it could make the difference between life and death.

Why do you think there is so much fine print in the first place? This is because all drugs have toxic side effects. That is not to say they don't save lives and are not needed in certain situations. Clearly they do and are. But, the goal of real health should be to have your body function properly without drugs, or at least with as little drugs as humanly possible. How? Through proper diet, exercise, stress management and chiropractic care. I recently read a quote from a famous NFL coach, Jimmy Johnson. He said something like this: There are more things that can go bad with a passing play, than a running play. That's why, when in doubt, if at all possible, run the ball. I have the same philosophy with health. If at all possible, do it naturally.

About the Author:

Lilly Willy: Cialis Not Lost, Declares Guy Guy

Straight Guy,

Gay Guy was a domestic animal this past weekend. The Rites of Spring . . . Spring Cleaning, that is. The weekend's mission was to send the woolly winter wear to the dry cleaners and take out the spring clothes, bed linen, bedspread, etc.

The fresh outlook makes me feel like a new and happy person, but the amount of laundry to be done over one weekend is intense. Dirty stuff needs to be clean; musty clothes from the recesses of the closet need a wash to smell clean, and it all needs to be put away by the end of the weekend.

While I was in the midst of these labors, a order cialis commercial landed straight into my agitator. Cialis is for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. It's made my Lilly Pharmaceuticals. Call it the Lilly Willy, if you will. Unlike its cousin, Viagra, cheap cialis is for daily use so "you can be ready anytime the moment is right." I guess it's like electricity--always floating around but nothing happens until you plug something in and turn it on. Sorry, infantile, I know.

Disclaimer: I do not need to know anything about Cialis. I am ignorant of using it.

Back to the commercial. The theme is "anytime can be the right time." A guy comes into the laundry room, toting a full laundry basket. He hands the basket to his wife. Hands touch. Eyes meet. Knowing glances exchanged. Music swells. Cialis lurches. He's filling up one basket while he empties out the other. Wow!

In the midst of folding polo shirts and mating and folding a centipede's worth of black socks . . . well, all I can say is if that --or any guy--had showed up in my place ready to help me do the laundry, I would be the one springing a hard on.

This is the road that Gay Guy has traveled: I used to want a guy to rip off my clothes and throw me onto the washing machine. Now, if I could get one to empty a hamper, I'd be moist.

Please tell me it's better in Straight Town.

--Gay Guy