Neuropathy Medication

Neuropathy is disease of the nervous system. One or more nerves of similar length could be damaged, thereby causing severe pain, numbness or tingling sensations.

Medications are available to cure neuropathy, but these take a long time; the time taken depends on the type and intensity of the disease. Taking too many drugs could also cause neuropathy.

Strong medications such as narcotics are mostly used to control severe neuropathy pains, which should be avoided for milder neuropathies. Non-narcotic pain killers are not effective against these neuropathy pains. But over-the-counter analgesics can be used for mild pain. Antidepressants and anticonvulsants can be administered for other type of nerve pains.

But although narcotic pain killers are initially effective, their effect wears off: as time goes by, the dosage of the drug needs to be increased to achieve the same measure of pain relief. Topical anesthetics are said to be effective against these resistant neuropathy pains.

Medications approved by FDA for diabetic neuropathy pain is Duloxetine or Cymbalta. It is a known fact that HIV patients are more at risk of neuropathy. Drugs like didanosine (ddI, Videx), zalcitabine (ddC, Hivid), and stavudine (d4T, Zerit) are prescribed for HIV patients. Taking all these drugs together could also cause neuropathy, so care should be taken to follow the doctor’s prescription strictly.

The effectiveness of neuropathy medication ranges from slight to complete. Strong medication should only be used for severe neuropathy, and taken in moderation to avoid resistance to the drugs. Care should also be taken not to cause neuropathy by overload of drugs.

GERD - The Acid Reflux Disease

The Disease

The term GERD is a acronym for gastroesophageal reflux disease and is a very glorified term for heartburn. Frequent, persistent heartburn is the primary symptom associated with acid reflux disease or GERD. With GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), stomach acid flows back into the esophagus, the tube leading from the throat to the stomach. If you suffer from persistent heartburn two or more days a week, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Though heartburn is the most common of the acid reflux disease symptoms, other signs may also manifest themselves.

For these individuals, acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), may be at the heart of their burn. Prevacid is a prescription drug that helps GERD-sufferers prevent the acid that causes heartburn pain associated with acid reflux disease.

Pain

Besides the discomfort of heartburn, reflux results in symptoms of oesophageal inflammation, such as odynophagia (pain on swallowing) and dysphagia (difficult swallowing). Remarkably, the frequency of severe heartburn seems to decline with age, possibly due to a decrease in esophageal pain perception and atrophic gastritis. Although elderly patients may have fewer complaints of heartburn, their disease is usually more severe and has more complications. The burning, pressure, or pain of heartburn can last as long as 2 hours and is often worse after eating; and, can include very unpleasant symptoms, such as heartburn, chest pain, trouble swallowing, hoarseness, throat irritation and bad breath. However, some people with GERD may not experience heartburn, but instead feel a pain in the chest, hoarseness, or problems swallowing. The feeling of heartburn my be similar to heart pain, but in actuality a heartburn has nothing whatsoever to do with the heart. Never assume that chest pain is heartburn or ingestion. GERD Symptoms Heartburn is described as a burning pain in the stomach that rises up towards the chest or towards the neck. A positive Bernstein test is considered if the patient experiences heartburn or chest pain. The acid perfusion test may have its utility more in explaining reflux as the cause of atypical chest pain. Potentially dangerous confusion can arise when someone neglects their heart pain believing it to be heartburn.

Gerd

Only 2 to 3 percent of acid reflux events reach the conscious level and are perceived by patients with GERD. Abnormalities that make it dysfunctional promote acid reflux and the constellation of GERD problems. Many people, including pregnant women, suffer from heartburn or acid indigestion caused by GERD. Most cases of acid reflux respond to lifestyle changes and prescription medication. Anyone experiencing heartburn twice a week or more may have GERD. Occasional heartburn is common but does not necessarily mean one has GERD.

Cure for one Illness and Cause of the Other: Drugs you take Damage your Teeth

Every person, regardless of his occupation, social position or gender, can be a connoisseur in a particular sphere of knowledge but is usually ignorant in medicine. We are used to follow our therapist's prescriptions without any hesitation. We've never taken effort to investigate the way this or that medicine works ...But, actually, even if we did, I doubt we'd make head or tale of what is written in thick volumes of medical books. It looks like sometimes it's worth doing...

The recent research in the field of salivary dysfunction field has shown that over 600 medications wide-spread nowadays lead to tooth decay through saliva inhibiting in our mouth. Meanwhile, saliva executes an important function of protecting our mouth from acid that destroys teeth. This acid is produced by bacteria while you eat sugar and it destroys the upper layer of our teeth. Salvia in its turn is rich in calcium and phosphate and flowing in it replaces the layer that has been removed.

Atropine, propanolol, clonidine and drugs similar to them take first place among the medications harmful for our teeth. These medicines either inhibit saliva production or alter its composition that is just as bad. Studies held on rats to see the relationship between cavity incidence, salvia flow and specific drugs, have shown that such drugs as atropine and its similarities, including antihistamines (eg, Benedryl) and some anti-depressants (eg, Elavil, Aventyl) retard the process of salvia secretion. Propanolol, in its turn, alters salviaТs composition causing tooth decay this way. The third drug under investigaton, clonidine, has been proved to prevent saliva producing by rducing neurotransmitters - stimulators of salivary glandsТ work.

This all is sad especially because these drugs are widely used by elderly people, together with those who have heart or hypertention problems. Clonidine, by the way, is used additionally to treat children with attention deficit problem.

Professor Watson calls doctors to reconsiderate using the above mentioned drugs or at least think about the dose reducing. This we, at least, can do if we are not able to fight such disorders as Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune illness and damaged salivary glands, side effect of radiation therapy to the head or neck.