Is Folic Acid for Pregnant Women Only?

Some patients particularly the women complain to their doctor once they discover that they are also given folic acid for their anemic conditions. They tend to react, ‘Am I pregnant too?’

As silly as this sound, some people regard folic acid as an essential supplement for pregnant women only. Folic acid has been known to protect the fetus against neural tube defects which refers to birth abnormalities including the malformations of the spine (spina bifida), skull, and brain (anencephaly). On the contrary, folic acid is also an anti-anemic agent.

Background 

As a vitamin occurring in the leaves and foliage of spinach, the term folic acid was derived from the Latin word folium meaning leaf.  It has been previously called vitamin M and vitamin B9. Since then, folic acid has been in whey, mushrooms, liver, yeast, bone marrow, soybeans and fish food. Upon cooking however, folic acid is readily destroyed. Up to 90% of the dietary folates are lost during the cooking process. The best way to acquire folic acid from food sources is to take them raw. Fresh spinach salad and uncooked animal liver are best examples. Then again, there is always the synthetic form of folic acid.

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Cancer Producing Herbal Plants

Chaparral 

Larrea tridentata (De Candolie) Corille (Fam Zygophyllaceae)

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Chaparral also popular as creosote bush, is a strongly scented olive green bush. It grows from California to Texas and Mexico.

Chaparral has been employed in the cure of bronchitis, common colds and in rheumatism. It is an effective antioxidant because of the presence of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA). This compound is also used as preservative for animal fats. Yet studies revealed that NDGT produced cyst and kidney damage in rodents.

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On Motion-sickness Medication

One typical discomfort in traveling is motion-sickness.  Also known as kinetosis or travel sickness, motion sickness is characterized by symptoms of nausea, dizziness and fatigue. It is a condition when a disagreement exist between the eyes and the ears- the visually perceived movement and the vestibular system sense of movement. Travelers use inhalants or embrocations to relieve dizziness but taking an anti-emetic as a preventive measure is the most common practice.

 

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Medicine Myths

 

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• Cold and cough medicine can make you sleepy

The usual active constituent of a cold and cough medicine is Phenylpropanolamine which is indicated for cold; Guiafenesin or Dextromethorpan, intended for cough; and the antihistamines chlorpenamine or Brompheniramine.

The latter mentioned are anti allergies. These are the main culprit for making one drowsy or sleepy. A patient who doesn’t want to drowse off buy cold and cough formulation without the antihistamines.

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Antibiotic Hazards

• Amoxicillin

(Amoxil, Amusa, Axmel, Clearamox, Bactoclav, Globamox, Globapen, Natravox, Pediamox)

Amoxicillin is a semisynthetic penicillin introduced in 1974. It is similar with the broad spectrum activity of Ampicillin but with the lesser gastrointestinal disturbance. Indicated for UTI, upper and lower respiratory infection, gastro intestinal tract infection – including typhoid and para typoid, skin and tissue infection and some venereal diseases, Amoxicillin is probably the most abused antibiotic.

Most consumers buy this drug for tonsillitis, skin and for mouth infections. Contrary to the belief of most people that Amoxicillin is the safest antibiotic, its hazardous effect comprises of the Pseudomembranous colitis, Steven Johnson syndrome, anemia and anaphylaxis.

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Ask Your Nurse

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A suppository is a drug dosage form, usually inserted in the rectum or anus and in other cases, into the urethra and vagina. This type of form has faster effect than syrup, capsule or tablet. In addition, a suppository is administered if a patient has the vomiting tendency that an oral medicine can be vomited out and if drugs that could cause stomach upset like the diclofenac sodium (an anti-inflammatory drug) would be best tolerated in suppository form.

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Counterfeit Medicine Warning

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If you are a drugstore owner or a drug distributor and you are thinking of buying unregistered imported or sample medicines, think again. Instead, of making money twice as you would expect, you could be wasting it and worst, you could be endangering your customers health.

Normally, a medicine is marked up to ten to twenty percent for its selling price. Some really small interests, that certain drug owners and dealers are tempted in purchasing illegal drugs such as unregistered imported and sample medicines. These types can be bargained for half of their prices and even cheaper. More invitingly, sample and unregistered imported medicines include the most trusted brands from multinational drug companies, a real guarantee for higher profit.

But, know this, as promising as it may seem, you could be purchasing counterfeit drugs.

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