Medical Articles

Drug-Food Interactions

What is a drug-food interaction? A drug-food interaction happens when the food you eat affects the ingredients in a medicine you are taking so the medicine cannot work the way it should. Drug-food interactions can happen with both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, including antacids, vitamins and iron pills. Are all medicines affected by food? Not all medicines are affected by food, but many medicines can be affected by what you eat and when you eat it. For example, taking some medicines at the same time that you eat may interfere with the way your stomach and intestines absorb the medicine. The food may delay or decrease the absorption of the drug. This is why some medicines should be taken on an empty stomach (1 hour before eating or 2 hours after eating). On the other hand, some medicines are easier to tolerate when taken with food. Ask your doctor or your pharmacist whether it's okay to take your medicine with a snack or a meal or whether it should be taken on an empty stomach. Facts to remember about drug-food interactions Read the prescription label on the container. If you don't understand something, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Read all directions, warnings and interaction precautions printed on medicine labels and packages. Even over-the-counter medicines can cause problems. Take medicine with a full glass of water, unless your doctor tells you differently. Don't stir medicine into your food or take capsules apart (unless your doctor tells you to) because this may change the way the drug works. Don't take vitamin pills at the same time you take medicine because vitamins and minerals can cause problems if taken with some drugs. Don't mix medicine into hot drinks because the heat may keep the drug from working. Never take medicine with alcoholic drinks. Source: http://familydoctor.org/

Medical Terminology

Alzheimer's and dementia basics

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimer's is not a normal part of aging, although the greatest known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older. But Alzheimer's is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease have early onset Alzheimer's (also known as younger-onset), which often appears when someone is in their 40s or 50s. Alzheimer's worsens over time. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Those with Alzheimer's live an average of eight years after their symptoms become noticeable to others, but survival can range from four to 20 years, depending on age and other health conditions. Alzheimer's has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research continues. Although current Alzheimer's treatments cannot stop Alzheimer's from progressing, they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.

The latest medical discoveries

The first discovery of new antibiotics after 30 years

Since 1987 no new antibiotics have been discovered to be used as a medicine and infections caused by resistance to antibiotics, there is emerging. But recently, scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, in cooperation with Northeastern University in Boston, the discovery of a new class of antibiotics that includes 25 new antibiotical, which can be uncovered against a wide range of deadly infections like pneumonia, TB and blood infections and tissue function. Studies show that these antibiotics by eliminating the ability of germs and bacteria cell walls, kill them and so the microbes can cause resistance to the drug. teixobactin are particularly effective on tuberculosis. Today the disease in many countries, especially in Eastern Europe are returning.

The most updated drug and medical advances

The discovery of antibiotic-resistant genes in bacteria

Scientists have discovered bacteria in the tribal away in South America that have antimicrobial susceptibility. This is despite the fact that about 2 million people annually infections are antibiotic-resistant pathogens. This problem tends to be more dangerous surgery. This discovery shows that the ability to resist antibiotics much before the advent of antibiotics in humans existed. Bacterial resistance was one of the biggest challenges that threaten human health and the World Health Organization in 2014, drug resistance against antibiotics as a "global threat" was introduced.