The Menacing Mathematics of Multiple Meds

By Gary Craig

There's something scary about drugs that concerns a growing number of physicians and should wobble the knees of every patient on the planet. It's obvious to any mathematician but somehow has escaped the general scrutiny of the health industry.

It has to do with combining meds.

Ever since I can remember I have been fed the perception that drugs are governmentally evaluated and thus are safe if taken under the guidance of competent physicians. However, even if we accept the presumed safety for the ingestion of one drug, we must ask ourselves how might that safety change if we take multiple drugs?

For safety assurances, proper testing should be done for every drug combination we are advised to take. If we take Prozac and Tylenol, for example, we should be presented with all the possible benefits and consequences before allowing these two foreign substances to mix with the chemicals our bodies already create. Same thing goes for combining Paxil with Viagra or Interferon with Lipitor.

The list of possible problems here is monstrously long because there are a b'zillion drugs and mega b'zillions of combinations. Nonetheless, I've never seen or heard of any studies that test any of these combinations ... have you?

Thus, if you take two drugs, the odds of their combination having been adequately tested for safety are skimpy at best. But if you take 3 or more drugs the danger possibilities multiply even faster.

Here's how the mathematics work: If you take 3 drugs then adequate safety testing of the various combinations require 7 separate tests. If you take 4 drugs the combinations require 25 separate tests. If you take 5 drugs it amounts to 121 tests. If you take 10 drugs the number of required safety tests total 362,881.

The conclusion here should be obvious. Namely, there is questionable safety testing if you take 2 drugs and nominal, if any, safety testing if you take 3. Beyond that you are clearly into the land of, "I have no idea what these combinations of drugs will do."

To me, this tosses our dedicated docs into a tenuous position. They have patients with problems who aren't willing to exercise, eat right, do EFT for emotional issues or much of anything else to help their own health. Instead, the patients hope the physicians will produce a magic pill (or pills) to make their problems go away.

I have met many patients who are on several drugs and take some drugs to counteract the effects of other drugs. As a non-physician I look at this with a shudder. These folks are being fed chemical cocktails with little or no safety testing behind the combinations. Maybe I need some help with my perceptions here but, to me, they are playing drug roulette.

I don't know if lawyers have picked up on the simple, but compelling, math here. But I do know that I wouldn't want to be a doctor in court facing these clear facts.

In the 15+ years I have been involved in the health field, I have had the good fortune to count many physicians as my personal friends. With few exceptions, they agree that it is our lifestyles, diets and emotional stresses that cause most of our health problems ... and ... the vast majority of these problems would vanish if people would live common sense lives. Yet patients repeatedly abuse their bodies and ask for more and more "miracle drugs" as the convenient solution. I don't envy the docs at all as I often hear them complain that this is a highway to NobodyWinsVille.

Maybe what we really need are good salespeople to persuade folks to take care of themselves. I suspect that, if truly persuasive, they would do more good than the ocean of drugs at our disposal.

Love, Gary

PS: The Free EFT Get Started Package can help any newcomer learn the valuable EFT process. If you want to save time and dive right in, get our low cost DVD Library.

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Wisdom Teeth , also referred as the third set of molars, are the last set of teeth in the mouth to grow, which normally happens around the ages of 17 - 25. There have been a lot of controversies and myths on wisdom teeth and their extraction. If the teeth do not cause any harm or pain, they are normally fine to stay in place. If they present a bad position or cause you a lot of pain or discomfort, they will need to be removed.

The major danger with wisdom teeth is they have the risk of becoming impacted and need to be extracted. Sometimes they can be pulled, although in most cases they need to be chipped out by a qualified surgeon. When the time comes to have your wisdom teeth extracted, you will need to go to an oral surgeon and have a consultation first.

The consultation generally involved taking a sets of x-rays that will let the surgeon know about the severity your wisdom teeth are. He will reviews the results with you, take a look in your mouth, then tell you what options you have. If he is going to pull or cut out your teeth, you will have the option of using local anaesthesia or going with intravenous sedation. An IV sedation is the preferred way to have wisdom teeth extracted, as you will be so relaxed you will not know what is going on. If you decide to just use local anaesthesia, which is numbing, you will be fully aware of the procedure. You will also hear the popping and cracking involved, which can make you feel quite uncomfortable.

The ease of the extraction process is guided by the shape, size, and the formation of the wisdom teeth. If the root tips have managed to wrap themselves around the bone, the removal process can be very time consuming and quite painful. Once the extractions have been completed, there is normally little to no swelling involved. Your dentist will prescribe you some pain medicine, which you should use as soon as you arrive home. If you are going to use IV sedation, you will need to someone to accompany you, as you will not be able to drive home.

Once the removal of your wisdom teeth is done, your dentist will advise you on what you need to do to ensure the proper healing of your gums and mouth. Normally, he will give you information to go over, to make sure that you experience no problems in the healing process. Someone will need to be with you for the first 24 hours, to make sure that you ok. You will not be able to eat certain foods for the first 48 hours, which is to be expected. Once you get your wisdom teeth removed through - you will notice a big improvement in your mouth - and your health.

Author Resource:- Sam Kern has also published a number articles on Cosmetic Dentistry. Recently published article : Restorative dentistry.

Article From Article Friendly

I had a flash back today. I was telling a friend how I did not like to be put under general anesthesia, and I remembered my surgery from almost a year ago. As I sat there in the waiting room, trying to read while my pre-surgery valium was kicking in, I had no idea what was in store for me.

The most unsettling part was post-surgery upon realizing that the numbness in my lips and gums was not going to wear off. I tried everything I could think of to "wake it up." When I bit down hard on my lip, I could only feel just the slightest bit of pressure. The left side of my tongue was also numb. Not good.

I researched this strange numbness and soon realized that I was actually one of the lucky ones. Many people suffer from nerve injuries that cause them debilitating pain. My heart goes out to all of them. I actually felt selfish for obsessing over the fact that I had to constantly wipe my chin when I ate, not knowing if I was dribbling food or water.

I came to welcome the tingling, or electrical feeling in my lips and chin. These were positive signs that my nerves were trying hard to reconnect. Sometimes, I experienced shooting pains.
NerveFix
offered incredible relief with these bothersome symptoms.