Your Guide to Pain Relief

Got sore muscles or a raging headache? Before you reach for that bottle in your medicine cabinet for pain relief, know what you're taking -- and what side effects it might cause. Always read the label and follow directions before taking any medication.



Pain relievers come in two main varieties. Acetaminophen (Panadol, Tylenol) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- better known as NSAIDs -- both help to relieve pain and reduce fever. NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), aspirin, and naproxen sodium (Aleve). Pain relievers come in many forms, including: tablets, caplets, gelcaps, and liquids.

>READ THE FULL ARTICLE for the OTC guide at webmd.com

>VIEW VIDEOS ON PAIN RELIEF PRESCRIPTIONS at webmd.com

Remote Patient Visits/Prescriptions - Playing with Scorpions

Prescribing by Phone Is Like Playing With Scorpions

Can you practice medicine over the phone? What is an appropriate way to use communication technology to help treat patients? Recently on Medscape Connect, an all-physician discussion group, members discussed how they had used the phone and other devices to diagnose, prescribe, or otherwise deal remotely with medical issues.

A primary care physician started things off: "Given my experiences with my own patients, I always insist they come into the office before I prescribe antibiotics if I haven't just seen them. Have you had experiences where you were glad you made your patient come in to your office before treating them based on what they told you over the phone, or a time when you wish you had?"

READ FULL ARTICLE from medscape.com

Don't Let Medicines Cause Harm

We take more medicines than ever to maintain or improve our health. But over the last decade, many baby boomers and seniors have ended up in the hospital because the medications they expected to help them actually hurt them.

Many medical problems now can be treated with medicines that were not available just a few years ago. But taking more medicines can also result in some unexpected reactions, especially for people who take several drugs. Bad reactions to medications are on the rise, according to a new report by my agency, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Between 1997 and 2008, hospital admissions doubled among Americans aged 45 and older for medication and drug-related conditions. These hospital admissions include the effects of prescription and over-the-counter medicines as well as illegal drugs.

This increase has been driven by three types of medication and drug-related conditions:

Drug-induced delirium, which is general confusion and agitation caused by drugs. Common causes are drugs for sleeping, nausea, and pain. Elderly patients are more sensitive to medicines than younger adults.

Poisoning or overdose from codeine and other narcotic medicines. Bad reactions from narcotic pain medicines are especially common in older adults.

Withdrawal from prescribed medicines or illegal drugs. Drug withdrawal occurs when someone suddenly stops or takes much less of a drug after being on it for a long time.

via Navigating the Health Care System: Don't Let Medicines Cause Harm.