Watch out What You are TakingWritten by Kay Zetkin
It is quite frightening to think about being a patient needing important medication but getting worse because of taking wrong drug. And indeed, this kind of fatal situations happen. In fact people that take over counter drugs might happen to become victim of this occurrence.Other things may also lead to adverse drug reactions on patients. According to research, there are over 4 million Americans who take as many as eight different prescription drugs each day. If there’s a particular research about older Americans, presumably they take even more than eight prescription drugs per day. There is high possibility that these people maybe taking right drugs according to prescriptions but in wrong combinations. Wrong combinations may be caused by taking herbal supplements, certain foods and vitamin products, alcohol, caffeine, over-the-counter drugs are being taken alongside prescription drugs. These are common situations that arise during cold and flu season. The effect may be very slight or worse, very fatal…. So what do we do so as not to be victim of these occurrences? The director of Pharmacy Affairs for Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy at Alexandria, Virginia, Marissa Schlaifer said that it is very important for those taking medications to talk with their pharmacist or doctors. Primarily, they should discuss drug, dosage and any possible interactions. Patients who consult with several doctors and uses more than one pharmacy must always be aware of this significant process when having to take medication. This should be an easy process since almost all pharmacies check for potential drug interaction on prescriptions they fill. If you are a patient whose health coverage is provided by a managed care organization, then it could be helpful. Plans provided by these managed care organizations center on helping patient safeguard against dangerous drug interactions, no matter where patients take their prescriptions.
| | Social Anxiety (And Other Things I Didn't Know About Myself)Written by John R. Cook
Mid life for me, as most people, is a time of personal review, trying to fathom twists and turns in life that have brought me to where I am today. Among questions I have asked myself is: What led me to specialize in treating social anxiety? Upon private reflection, most compelling reason is that I, like many of my clients, have suffered from that disorder. We are in good company. Just over 10% of North Americans can expect to suffer from social anxiety at some time in our lives. Social phobia (social anxiety disorder) is characterized by excessive or unreasonable fear of being judged by others in social or performance situations such as public speaking, eating, or working. The anxious anticipation, avoidance, and distress we suffer in these feared situation(s) interferes significantly with our everyday activities, and can lead to a life of underachievement and loneliness. The good news for people suffering from social anxiety is that condition is entirely treatable using Cognitive Behavioral therapy. To understand how this treatment works, it is important to understand two things about social phobia. The first is that it is a learned response. This means, like any bad habit, these learned responses can be replaced with other, more adaptive behaviours – ones that leave us feeling calm and confident rather than fearful and avoidant. The second thing to be aware of, although social phobia can seem like an overwhelmingly huge problem, it can be broken into three parts. The three parts are physical reactions in our body, distortions in our thinking, and changes in our behavior associated with high anxiety. Once broken into parts, each of these three parts may be targeted with a set of treatment techniques that can be readily taught to practically anyone.
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