
5 timeless habits for better health

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Is your breakfast cereal healthy?

When pain signals an emergency: Symptoms you should never ignore

Does exercise give you energy?

Acupuncture for pain relief: How it works and what to expect

How to avoid jet lag: Tips for staying alert when you travel

Biofeedback therapy: How it works and how it can help relieve pain

Best vitamins and minerals for energy

Should you take probiotics with antibiotics?
Medications Archive
Articles
When pills pose problems
Up to 40% of American adults have reported difficulty swallowing pills. Older adults are more susceptible to this problem, known as dysphagia, because they take more medications. Dysphagia may provoke people to abandon their medication regimen. Problems swallowing pills are typically traceable either to the medication or the person taking it. Drugs can cause dry mouth, affect taste, irritate the esophagus, or cause sedative effects. Conditions that affect swallowing include cancer, stroke, neurological diseases, and hiatal hernia.
Are you taking too many medications?
Many people need to take multiple medications for health and symptom control, but it requires extra attention to prevent risks for drug interactions, dosage errors, and other problems. Several strategies can help, such as learning the names of pills, what they do, and why they're necessary; writing down the day, time, and dose of each drug; using organization tools such as pillboxes and alarms; and scheduling a medication review with a doctor or pharmacist every 12 months, so that unnecessary pills—such as those no longer needed—can be omitted.
These drugs might be best to relieve migraine pain
A 2024 analysis of 137 studies involving almost 90,000 people found that older drugs called triptans are more effective at stopping migraine pain in a moment of agony, compared with newer medications such as ditans and gepants.
What are the risks from taking statins?
The two main side effects caused by statins are muscle aches (which disappear once the drug is stopped) and a higher risk of diabetes (which is most common in people with obesity and prediabetes).
Think your child has ADHD? What your pediatrician can do
Problems with attention and focus, impulsivity, and constant motion are possible symptoms of ADHD.
Do the new weight-loss drugs improve your health?
The FDA has approved three GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs for weight loss. The drugs not only lower blood sugar and weight, but also quiet inflammation, stimulate the production of antioxidants, help repair damaged DNA, and slow the aging of the body's cells. Evidence suggests that among people who use the drugs for diabetes and obesity, the drugs reduce the risks of kidney disease progression, heart attack, death from heart disease, death from COVID-19, and death from all causes by 15% to 35%.
Clearing up a foggy memory
At some point, most older adults experience the occasional "senior moment" where they misplace an everyday object, lose their train of thought during a conversation, or forget why they walked into a room. Memory lapses like this are part of normal aging, but the problem can be exacerbated by issues like depression, stress, poor sleep, and medication side effects. If these episodes become so frequent or substantial that they interfere with a person's daily life or safety, it's time to see a doctor.
Medication side effects: What are your options?
All medicines have potential side effects. Usually, side effects are more bothersome than serious –– though a few are dangerous. If you experience a side effect, what are your options?

5 timeless habits for better health

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Is your breakfast cereal healthy?

When pain signals an emergency: Symptoms you should never ignore

Does exercise give you energy?

Acupuncture for pain relief: How it works and what to expect

How to avoid jet lag: Tips for staying alert when you travel

Biofeedback therapy: How it works and how it can help relieve pain

Best vitamins and minerals for energy

Should you take probiotics with antibiotics?
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