Are you using any of these medications?
The must-read summary of “Mind Over Meds: Know When Drugs Are Necessary, When Alternatives Are Better–and When to Let Your Body Heal on Its Own” by Andrew Weil, MD.
This complete summary of Dr. Andrew Weil’s book outlines the risks and benefits of reliance on medications on the above fourteen categories of medications that are most over-prescribed, overused, and misused. It provides reliable integrative-medicine approaches (with less drug use) to treating common ailments such as depression, high blood pressures, allergies, and the common cold.
This guide includes:
Value-added of this guide:
The information in this book can help you become a wise consumer—to know whether drugs are really needed, and weigh their benefits against possible risks.
Genre: STUDY AIDS / Study GuidesDrug therapy is only one method of treating disease and maintaining health. Diet, lifestyle modification, and other non-drug therapies can be effective in treating chronic illnesses such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and allergies. But lifestyle modification is demanding, and non-drug therapies need the active participation of patients and may take more time to produce results. Many patients would rather skip the effort and take a pill.
So why is this cause for concern?
Safety
Adverse drug reactions are America’s fourth leading cause of death. All drugs have multiple effects on various organs and body functions. For example, antibiotics we use to kill disease-causing bacteria may alter liver and kidney function and interfere with digestion. Do not assume that over-the-counter medications are safe. They can cause serious adverse reactions on their own and also interact with other drugs to increase risk.
Efficacy
Too often, these medications only treat the symptoms and not the underlying cause of the disease. For example, insulin is very effective in lowering the blood sugar levels of people with type 2 diabetes. But it does not cure the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes which is the condition of insulin resistance. High blood sugar level is just the symptoms. In fact, the insulin therapy increases the level of insulin in the body, making the body more insulin resistant; i.e., worsening the condition.
Dependency
When used long-term, many medications can prolong or worsen the conditions they relieve. This is because the body reacts to the drug actions and become resistant to the drug. That’s why people taking antidepressants to treat depression often find it hard to get off the medication. And using them for long periods can worsen the depression.
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Author review: Very timely and easy to communicate with. |
