Medicaments should help improve health. Paradoxically, however, they often cause new diseases instead. The practice is that each drug produces less or more severe side effects. Have you ever encountered a leaflet that does not mention any side effects?
A Feeling of Joy or Worry?
Many medications for depression cause obesity. Given that antidepressants can cause suicidal tendencies, weight gain can be considered a less serious side effect. On the other hand, there is the question of what unwanted obesity will do to the patient’s psyche. Antidepressants can also cause compulsive behavior.
High blood pressure drugs can cause dry irritating cough and swelling of the legs, or even aggravate psoriasis.
Combinations of Drugs with Other Drugs and Food
Appropriate combination with other medicines and food should be considered when taking cholesterol lowering drugs. The risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis (muscle cracking) may increase.
An inappropriate combination of blood thinners such as Warfarin with certain pain and temperature medicines such as acetylsalicylic acid (Acylpyrin) and ibuprofen (Ibalgin) increases the risk of bleeding.
Sudden cardiac death has been associated with many antipsychotics with active substance risperidone with an increased incidence seen in elderly patients and patients taking other cardiac medicines in combination.
Blood Clots
Female oral contraceptives and hormone therapy drugs all carry an increased risk for blood clot formation. Additionally, all testosterone replacement products share the same risk for blood clots.
Hallucination
Cephalosporins and sulfa drugs, which are 2 common classes of antibiotics, have been associated with causing hallucinations in rare cases.
Memory Loss
The most notable medication class that can result in memory loss is nonbenzodiazepine sedative hypnotics. These medications can sometimes cause amnesia and trigger potentially dangerous behaviors. There are cases where the patient in the morning after waking up had no idea that he had been driving a car or had sex the day before.
Stevens – Johnson Syndrome (JSJ)
This syndrome is a rare, life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction of the skin and mucous membranes, leading to blistering, necrosis, and shedding of the skin.
Lamotrigine has a relatively high incidence of SJS. Other drugs that can cause SJS include allopurinol, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen; sulfate drugs, penicillin, barbiturates and other anticonvulsants.
Cancer
A medicament named tamoxifen, which is used to treat breast cancer, has been found to increase the risk of uterine cancer. The labeling of type 2 diabetes medication pioglitazone includes a warning about the increased risk of bladder cancer.
Death
Antiarrhythmic agents which can cause sudden cardiac death include sotalol, amiodarone and procainamide.
Thalidomide Kids
In the 50’s and 60’s of the last century, doctors wanted to make it easier for mothers to get pregnant, and they invented the medicine Thalidomide, which was supposed to relieve stress, nausea and guarantee good sleep during pregnancy. It was developed in the USA and later on in Europe. In 1960, however, a large number of children born with shorter limbs or other abnormalities became concerned about doctors.
In less than a year, the culprit was Thalidomide, who was immediately banned. However, it was too late for disabled children. During the “pharmaceutical revolution” when Thalidomide was prescribed, over 8,000 disabled children were born. It was all due to the pharmaceutical company that developed Thalidomide but did not subject it to rigorous testing.
Sources: pharmacytimes.com/contributor/timothy-o-shea/2016/02/10-scariest-prescription-drug-side-effects?p=5
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