Such plans must include, where relevant, the risks of abuse and diversion. 55 56 By contrast, herbal products and other dietary supplements are subject to a far lesser degree of supervision. Composition and quality are uncertain; clinical data on safety and efficacy are limited; and physicians generally do not feel qualified to opine about specific products’ risks and benefits for particular medical conditions. 57 Various scholars have suggested that the FDA should more stringently regulate many dietary supplements. 58 Generally, dietary supplements are ingested orally and lack abuse potential.
Although the use of Ephedra may have many side effects and weight that was lost may resurface, it is still effective in assisting those who are struggling with obesity. Alternative therapy for this issue would focus more so on making lifestyle changes as well as changes within the diet where herbal supplements will be used to help assist smoother yet healthier transition providing better and long-lasting results (University of Vermont, 2006). Complementary therapy would include a very invasive approach to obesity as it would be the equivalent to bariatric surgery. This procedure would assist those who are obese by making their stomach smaller which would cut down food portions and eventually lead to weight lost. However, this method is quite
Another way of reducing the potential harm to intravenous drug users is to provide medically controlled drugs as a substitute for street drugs. Drugs such as methadone are less harmful than street heroin, partly because they are free from impurities. An issue with the public health interventions I have discussed is that it may be too early to measure. It is still too early to see the full effect of the smoking ban as it was only introduced fairly recently, which could explain why there have been no significant changes in the number of smokers following the ban. As well as this, harm minimisation programmes are controversial because they appear to condone
Jessa Thomson Professor Stillwell USem 102 CTR 4 February 1, 2011 ToT CTR 4 Summary: This chapter in Trick or Treatment describes the pros and cons of herbal medicine. Many people resort to herbal medicine to treat their different ailments. But some of the treatments cause more harm than good. For example: St. John’s Wort can treat mild to moderate depression, but for someone with severe depression or a mental illness it does no good and could even make symptoms worse. Personal Statement: I liked the tables in the book that showed whether or not the herbs/ natural medicine were shown to have a good effect on what they were supposed to.
The lock-in program would help lower the amount of people abusing prescription medication. The lock-in program would also ease the minds of physicians and pharmacists who are fighting a constant battle of keeping track of patients on controlled medications. Even though Americans will pay taxes on Medicaid regardless, many people would feel more at ease knowing their money wasn’t going toward funding the habits of drug abusers. Any patient that seeks assistance from Medicaid should be entered into the lock-in program to help lower the amount of controlled substance abuse, to ease the minds of doctors and pharmacists, and to ensure American tax dollars are spent more
The overwhelmingly negative results in studies about the efficacy in Echinacea in treating and preventing the common cold show that it is indeed no better than any other alternative medication. However, not much research has been shown about the effects of the herb on other illnesses. There have been suggestive studies on the positive effect of Echinacea on cancers and skin conditions, but there is little research to prove either side. Perhaps in the future a better use of this herb can be found that may benefit many people around the
It has been noticed that the same drugs that suppress the immune system so that lupus can't attack the body also reduce a person's ability to fight off bacterial and viral infections. “If a person has more severe manifestations of the lupus that brought them to the hospital their symptoms are going to be treated with aggressive immunosuppressant’s, and that's going to increase their risk of infection," said Dr. Joan Merrill, medical director of the Lupus Foundation of America. It was also stated that more than likely, it’s going to increase their risk of re-hospitalization, and the treatments don't work, then they’re at risk of organ
There was no method that I could be informed about the drug companies trying to further speed up the process of drug approvals so it makes sense as to why I was being misled. The perspective that I have on the pharmaceutical companies has changed drastically. Before taking this course, I was naïve to believe that although pharmaceutical companies were just like any manufacturing company, they still had their best interest in the health care of their consumers since they are making their product to better the health of
Question: iii) The system prevents dosage errors being made Justification: Relates to safety - too much or too little of a drug would prevent the medication from being effective or be potentially dangerous. Question: When a drug is chosen can you only prescribe a safe dose? iv) The system provides relevant information about the medication Justification: Relates to helpfulness - There are many different drugs available for a doctor to prescribe, many of which have similar names or use brand names rather than the active ingredients. Furthermore generic compounds are typically less expensive than branded ones – allowing doctors to access drug information provides them with the ability to compare different drugs available and choose the best possible medication for the patient. Question: Can you see information about the drug such as dosage, active ingredients and alternatives?
The drugs would also be more potent and less contaminated. “Wherever an operation is shut down, a new one is opened up.” He concludes that if efforts could succeed in significantly reducing either the supply of drugs or the demand for them, we would not need to seek change in policy (Is curbing a rising population of users not a success??). He says that due to our repeated failures, there is need for some a change. It seems that based on Nadelman’s perspective, he would argue for the legalization of cognitive enhancing drugs as well as illicit drugs. William Bennett has other