Did you know that your prescription medications can cause your blood pressure and blood sugar to rise?
I recently was checking prescription orders for a elderly customer that I have known for the better part of 20 years. She will be 91 in August. Most elderly people over the age of 65 take 3.8 medications, according to the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. In pharmacy practice however it is not uncommon to see elderly with failing health taking anywhere from 6 to 12 different medications. The customer I speak of today was taking TWO medications. A low dose aspirin and thyroid prescription. I want to be that healthy when I am 91!
We seem to have a cascade of prescription prescribing in our the United States. The guidelines for disease states get tighter and tighter, like the guidelines for cholesterol health. As a result of the recent moves by the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel (we will talk later on about how many of the “experts” have direct financial ties to the manufactures of statin drugs) targeting LDL cholesterol less than 100mg/dl we see a lot more patients on cholesterol lowering medications. The scenario can go something like this:
You go to your doctor for your regular checkup, and the findings from your blood work show your cholesterol levels are above the latest medical recommendations. So your doctor starts you on a Statin drug, say simvastatin or lovastatin. Time passes and at another visit your doctor finds that your blood glucose levels are starting to creep up. (Currently the recommendations are for fasting blood sugar to be below 100md/dl) Blood sugar levels elevated probably due to insulin resistance because your statin drug is depleting Coenzyme Q10 (Coq10). Your doctor puts you on some metformin to assist with your blood sugar control. More time passes and metformin helps continue the depletion of the essential Coenzyme Q10 through another pathway as well as Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), folate, and Vitamin B12(cyanocobalamin).
Congratulations! By this time due to all the nutrient depletions your blood pressure is climbing a little bit and you better have your doctor start you on a thiazide diuretic like furosemide so that you can deplete that magnesium, zinc, potassium, and sodium levels in your body.
But wait, it gets better, now your really getting insulin resistant, better put you on some Avandia® to lower your blood glucose. Hmmmm, your blood pressure is not coming down, lets add another blood pressure medication like an ACE inhibitor and really slam your zinc status out. Once your zinc is “gone” now insulin doesn’t work at all.
So now your 50 years old and on 6 different medications.
ALL Because of Drug Nutrient Depletions.
Anybody fell like this is them?
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