Medications Review

Schizophrenia is a scary and difficult chronic mental illness- both for the person AND for their family who all have to live with the diagnosis. In most cases, antipsychotic medications need to be taken forever to control the disturbing symptoms. But rarely is anyone told that these medications not only double the risk of sudden cardiac death, but also put the sufferer at risk for several other chronic illnesses as well.

The severe mental condition that has been termed schizophrenia is NOT the ‘multiple personality disorder’ that many think of when they hear the term, but is a different mental illness characterized by bizarre behaviors like paranoia, hearing voices, and having hallucinations. It is often acquired after a stressful life event and occurs swiftly and unpredictably in what is known as a ‘psychotic break’. This is devastating for the patient and their family who suddenly have to live with a diagnosis of mental illness. And that is just the first step in a life filled with doctors, hospitals, medications and psychiatrists- with little hope to ever really have a normal life again.

There is no ‘cure’, in traditional medicine, for Psychosis; and a prescription for one or more ‘antipsychotics’ with names like Haldol and Risperdal, along with a cocktail of other drugs often prescribed for anxiety, depression and sleep are frequently on the menu. But what these people are rarely, if ever, told about are the long term side effects of these drugs. While doctors are ever prescribing anticholesterol ‘statins’, aspirin and blood pressure medications in order to achieve a 1 – 2% reduction in heart disease, they are knowingly giving schizophrenic individuals, who generally get their first psychotic break as a teenager or young adult, a shortened lifespan from the medications that they are prescribing.

In the research available on these drugs, it is well known that Sudden Cardiac Death is a ‘side effect’ of antipsychotic medications. In fact, these medications DOUBLE the risk of sudden cardiac death. In the beginning, however, it does not give them the “heart disease” of clogged arteries that we associate with heart attacks. The immediate risk of antipsychotics is that they give sufferers a high risk for a very specific disorder called ‘Prolonged Q-T interval’.

Prolonged Q-T Interval gets its name from the prolonged time that it takes for the electrical activity of the heart to return to normal after each heartbeat. But this extra time isn’t measured in minutes or seconds, but in hundredths of a second- making it difficult to diagnose. But this extra millisecond can have the devastating consequence of putting the taker of these medications into an abnormal cardiac rhythm called Ventricular Fibrillation- which will quickly lead to death without immediate emergency care. And this will come on without pain, shortness of breath or any of the other ‘warning signs’ of a heart attack because it is not clogged arteries that are the problem, but the electrical system that is the primary problem.

Even worse, antipychotics don’t just put people into your vanilla, standard everyday Ventricular Fibrillation that generally responds well to the dramatic ‘paddles on the chest, everybody get away from the patient and shock them’ type of defibrillation that you see on television. It actually puts them into a very specific TYPE of Ventricular Fibrillation called Torsades de Pointes, that doesn’t change to a normal rhythm with the shocks and heart starting medications that are the ‘standard protocol’ for restarting the heart. Instead, ‘Torsades’ requires an immediate infusion of intravenous magnesium. As hospitals and emergency rooms have magnesium at hand, this shouldn’t be such a hard thing to do; but unfortunately, Torsades de Pointes is fairly rare and is difficult to recognize, so in many cases it is not even considered until the shocks and CPR are not working- and by then it is often too late for the magnesium to be effective.

Not only do antipsychotics double the risk of deadly heart rhythms, but they ALSO increase the risk of getting diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity- which are risk factors for ‘regular’ heart disease complete with clogged arteries, angioplasty and open heart surgery. Fortunately, true psychosis is rare- so doctors don’t prescribe these dangerous medications unless they are absolutely necessary… right?

Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. In fact, over 200,000 people in the US are newly diagnosed each year and hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for antipsychotics are written every year. And despite virtually NO studies having been done, they are being given to adolescents, children and even PRESCHOOLERS as young as TWO YEARS OLD! Most of these are prescribed by PRIMARY physicians without the child having even had an evaluation by a psychiatrist. And almost half were written, not for schizophrenia as they are intended, but for ADD and ADHD for which the drugs have never even been tested!

“Rates of (doctor’s office) visits that resulted in a psychotropic prescription increased from 3.4 percent in 1994-1995 to 8.3 percent in 2000-2001. By 2001, one out of ten office visits by adolescent males resulted in a prescription for a psychotropic medication.” Trends in the use of psychotropic medications among adolescents, 1994 to 2001.

So, while researchers who study the cardiac death risk profile of antipsychotic drugs are advocating “sharp reductions” in the use of these agents- doctors are ignoring this advice and are steadily increasing the number of antipsychotic drugs prescribed each year. These patients, who are often children and teens without true schizophrenia, will somehow have to deal with several chronic health conditions that will not only shorten their lives, but decrease the quality of a life already made more difficult by mental illness.

In the today’s lifestyle, we are all almost thinking everything very fast and the automatic such as like fast cash, but fast communication, and fast foods and many others. This is a very good advantageous given to the people in many ways but they can buy a good product of this lifestyle is overweight and obesity. This is true to all people of the young and old age. As you go walking on the street or riding on the car going to work or school everyday, how many fat persons have you seen in your daily life?

Countless people are overweight because of the many kinds of foods they eat daily. Most of the fast foods are rich in the carbohydrates, fats and preservatives but that are harmful to our body as compared to healthy foods which we are eat. As per survey conducted by World Health Organization, a huge percentage of people suffer from type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney failure were due to improper foods that they eat. But the discovery of Rimonabant also known as a Generic Acomplia which is really in the time to today’s condition better. Generic Acomplia is an anorectic ant obesity drug that can be works not to reduce your body weight but on controlling the craving of foods as well as other detrimental urges like smoking.

Truly this Generic Acomplia is so beneficial to our health because it can be remedy of the two sicknesses at the same time. Smoking is the prime cause of lung cancer but even though people know that it can be harm of their body yet they cannot control their desire to smoke. But this is where a it is which can be takes as an important role. it is acts as a blocker in the brain that switches off the brain circuits hence a person will not feel hungry for foods or cigarettes. In clinical test conducted, it was found out that after a regular dose of it is as a daily supplement smoker quits their smoking.

The good benefits of the it is did not stop in the obesity of the body 0and smoking. It was found out that it can also prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease. You might be thinking that if you start taking this supplement that can be your weight will reduce automatically; well unfortunately this is not what you are thinking of. A proper balance diet with a daily exercise is another requirement for this it is to work successfully.

Who can take care of the Generic Acomplia (Rimonabant)?
It isis highly as to be recommended to a obese or overweight persons who are suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus and those smokers who wanted to quit smoking. The most proper way to know if you can take this drug is to consult your doctor properly for the health better.

Where can you buy Generic Acomplia (Rimonabant)?
It is can be purchase in some of the better leading online pharmacy. Its affordable price is for everybody’s reach. No need for you to go out of your home to purchase this wonderful product because it can be done in one click. Visit some online pharmacy and read about their promos and discounts.

Do not let your bad eating habits affects your entire existence. Start working on regulating your body weight by doing daily physical activities, eating the right kind of foods and taking it is as your daily supplement in your daily life protections.

It has been a long established fact that red wine is beneficial to the body. This is one of the biggest and most resounding theories that scientists have used to explain the French Paradox. Scientists discovered a substance called pure resveratrol in red wine. This substance is naturally produced by red grapes, blueberries and other brightly colored fruits to protect them from bacteria, fungi and disease. Scientists also discovered that while resveratrol is found in other fruits, they highest concentrations can be found in the skins of red grapes. This is why red wine and pure grape juice are so rich in pure resveratrol.

Theories about the French Paradox began in the early 1990s, when people started to notice an anomaly in the French people. Scientists realized that the typical French diet was high in saturated fat and calories, but the French actually had a much lower heart disease rate. It was mind-boggling because doctors told people the exact opposite—that a high fat diet would increase the risk of heart disease. They soon found out that pure resveratrol in red wine was what they had been looking for.

Once scientists figured out the existence of pure resveratrol, they wanted to know more about it. Two researchers from the Harvard Medical School studied two groups of laboratory mice to see how resveratrol supplements affect the body. Both test groups were given high fat diets (60% or more of calories from fat). One group was given pure resveratrol while the other group was not given any. In a matter of weeks the mice that did not get resveratrol supplements were showing signs of a fatty liver and the first signs of diabetes. The second group did not develop any of these symptoms and even lived longer than the first group.

When you go into a health shop and ask about resveratrol supplements, the vendor will probably tell you that it is a great anti-aging, anti-cancer and anti-stress supplement. This is all true. Pure resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that can delay the signs of aging and can reverse the effects of a high-fat diet. Being an antioxidant, it can fight and prevent cancer and Alzheimer’s and improve athletic performance and stamina.

What is the recommended amount of pure resveratrol you need for one day to reap its benefits? It would be difficult to drink the 1000 bottles of wine that would equate to the amount of pure resveratrol the mice in the laboratory study took, but experts say that 500mg to 2000mg is the correct daily dosage. The key is consistency. It is better if you take the supplements on a daily basis to maintain the resveratrol levels in your blood than if you take huge amounts of it only a few times a month.

The effects of pure resveratrol supplements, like weight loss and lowered cholesterol, are very promising. Although more research needs to be done to make the product more effective, doctors say that there is no reason why consumers cannot safely take resveratrol supplements to improve their health.

What is a generic drug? A generic medication is a drug product that has the same active ingredients, strength and dosage form as the brand-name counterpart. It is sold under the chemical or scientific name for the drug instead of the manufacturer’s brand name. Brand name drugs have a twenty-year patent life. Once that patent expires, other manufacturers are free to make the drug in a generic form. The cost of a drug drops between 30-80% once it becomes available as a generic.

Are there differences between a brand-name drug and its generic alternative? Yes. Generic medications marketed in the U.S. may differ from their brand-name counterparts in such things as shape, packaging fillers (including colors, flavors, preservatives), expiration time, and, within certain limits, labeling. However, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all drugs, both brand-name and generic medications marketed in the United States, meet the same requirements for quality, strength, purity and potency. The FDA will only approve generic medications that have the same active ingredients and works the same in the body as the brand-name counterparts.

Are generics available for all brand-name drugs? No, only after a brand-name drug loses it’s patent can other manufactures produce the generic form. Keep in mind that even after a patent expires, some drugs may not be available in generic form, if no manufacturer makes them. Today about 1/2 or 8730 of the 11,487 drugs listed in the FDA’s Orange Book have generic counterparts. (source FDA, MedAd news)

Do generic drugs take longer to work? No, when a manufacturer wants to produce a drug generically, that manufacturer must provide evidence to the FDA that it works in the body just like the brand-name drug and within the same amount of time as the brand-name drug.

Are generic drugs as safe as the brand-name drugs? Yes. All medications have risk. The manufacturer of the generic medication must prove to the FDA that the generic is as safe as the brand-name drug. Only a consumer in consultation with their physician can determine if those risks outweigh the benefits in their specific situation.

Are generic drugs made in the same type of facilities as the brand-name drugs? Yes. Generic manufacturers must meet the same exact standards as brand-name manufacturers. Brand-name manufacturers account for an estimated 50% of generic drug production. They frequently make copies of their own or other brand-name drugs but sell them without the brand-name designation. The FDA makes over 3,500 inspections a year to ensure the these standards are met in both brand-name and generic manufacturing facilities.

Why should I use a generic drug? Generic medications represent real value. They usually cost from 30-80% less than their brand-name counterparts and, since the FDA is very strict about approving generics, you can be assured that the generic drug you receive is a safe and effective alternative to the brand-name drug.

Let me give you an example of the savings and power of generics. Let’s say a member’s prescription drug plan has copays of $10, $35 & $50 depending on the classification (tier) of the drug as determined by the insurance carrier. One member of a health insurance plan pays a $35 copayment a month for a 30 day supply of brand name Zocor. Other members use the generic version, simvastatin and pays a $10 copay. Over a full year, that amounts to a $300 savings, just by switching one prescription.

Also, premiums for an insurance policy are determined based on the dollar amount of claims submitted to your insurance company. Although your copay is only $35, the drug may cost say $180, so the additional $145 is billed to your insurance provider. If all members of the plan make similar choices (insisting on a brand-name vs. generic), just think of the true cost to the insurance carrier.

How do I get a generic medication? Start with your doctor or pharmacist. Questions you should ask include:

• is there a generic version of my drug available?
• are generics right for me?
• are there any risks I should know about before I change to a generic?
• how much will I save if I change to a generic?

According to the FDA, generic drugs approved by the FDA are biologically and therapeutically equivalent to their brand-name counterparts… and people can use them with confidence!