In This Issue:

This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com
Featured Q&A
Featured Home Remedy
Tough Job May Harm the Heart
Strained Close Relationship Boosts Heart Risk
Topamax May Help Alcoholics
Stored Blood Loses Essential Gas
Hot Peppers May Offer Anesthesia Advance
Antidepressants Linked to Bleeding Ulcers

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Generic Drug Equality Questioned

ConsumerLab.com reported on Thursday that its tests of a generic version of the popular antidepressant drug Wellbutrin showed differences between the generic and original that might explain recent consumer complaints about the generic product. In February, readers of The People's Pharmacy syndicated newspaper column began reporting problems with a generic version of once-a-day Wellbutrin XL 300. Prior to generic competition, annual U.S. sales of Wellbutrin XL 300 mg were nearly one billion dollars.
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/generic_drug_problems/generic_drug_equality_questioned.php

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Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy

We are pleased to announce a new edition of our book, Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy. Best Choices is filled with natural healing approaches for dozens of common conditions including:

• arthritis
• high blood pressure
• constipation
• insomnia
• diabetes
• leg cramps
• headaches
• menopause
• heartburn
• nail fungus
• high cholesterol
• osteoporosis

We also rate prescription drugs so you can get the best buys for your money. Best Choices is packed with remedies that will surprise you, statistics that will shock you, ratings to help assess your treatment options and drug information that could save your life. Purchases from the web site receive over a 25% discount off the list price of $31.95.

This special edition (524 pages) is not available in any bookstore. It contains an expansion of our People's Pharmacy Favorite Picks (home remedies) and a new chapter on Desert Island Drugs and Dietary Supplements. Some of the country's leading experts have contributed their insights on the best treatments for what ails you. This edition is not in stores or on other Internet sites. It is only available from Rodale Books and directly from The People's Pharmacy. We ship book orders Media Mail (5-10 day delivery expected).

http://ppcart.fountainshosting.com/p-249-best-choices-from-the-peoples-pharmacy.aspx

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This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com:

This Week's Radio Show: 653 Hypnosis for Health
People have been using hypnosis, or something very much like it, for thousands of years. Franz Anton Mesmer is credited with bringing it to public attention for medicinal purposes in the 1700s, but his charisma and showmanship threw the technique...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/radio_shows/653_hypnosis_for_health.php

Red Yeast Rice And Muscle Pain
Q. I took red yeast rice to control my cholesterol. It worked wonders for me. My doctors couldn't believe my perfect readings. After taking the red yeast rice for eight months, I started having an ache in my leg. I...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/red_yeast_rice_and_muscle_pain.php

Should Shellfish Lovers Worry About Cholesterol?
Q. There seems to be conflicting information on the relationship between consuming shellfish and cholesterol. What does the latest research show? If shellfish is a high-cholesterol food, how much is too much? A. For years dietitians counseled people to avoid...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/pharmacy_qa/should_shellfish_lovers_worry_about_cholesterol.php

Natural Remedies For Hot Flashes
Q. Help! My menopausal hot flashes are becoming unbearable and debilitating. I have tried many remedies. Some helped a little (like cutting down on caffeine), but others, like soy, did nothing. I work with liver transplant patients, and the specialists...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/natural_remedies_for_hot_flashes.php

Dill Pickle Juice For Hiccups And Leg Cramps
Q. The best hiccup remedy I have found is dill pickle juice. One to two ounces does the trick. A. You are not the first reader to sing the praises of pickle juice for hiccups. Perhaps the salt or the...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/dill_pickle_juice_for_hiccups_and_leg_cramps.php

Stopping Heartburn Medicines Pose Challenge
Messing with Mother Nature sometimes leads to unintended consequences. This is especially true when it comes to your body. Drug companies are quite adept at developing medications that make us feel better. They often have a harder time dealing with...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/editorial/stopping_heartburn_medicines_pose_challenge.php

Old-Time Wound Treatment Helps Pets
Q. You recently wrote about using sugar for slow-healing wounds and bedsores. As a nurse, I learned years ago that the best way to use this home remedy is to make a thick paste of antibiotic ointment and sugar and...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/pharmacy_qa/oldtime_wound_treatment_helps_pets.php

Going Easy On The Brazil Nuts
Q. Earlier this week I ate a large quantity of Brazil nuts (about 20) and suddenly began to feel a constriction in my lungs. My skin then felt very hot, and I saw in the mirror that I had turned...
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/going_easy_on_the_brazil_nuts.php

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Featured Q & A

Is Anxiety Drug Addictive?
Q. Over 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with agoraphobia and generalized anxiety disorder. After nine years of therapy, six psychologists and several ineffective prescriptions, I was given Ativan. This drug was a miracle for me. I experienced absolutely no side effects and taking it made a difference like day and night.

I was told from the beginning that Ativan is addictive, so I have been careful not to take more than the recommended dose. I've never taken it for more than seven days in a row, and it has allowed me to live an almost normal life.

Now my primary care physician wants to switch me to BuSpar or some other "non-addictive" drug. My question is, what's the big deal with Ativan? Why is it so strictly controlled and what's the concern with addiction anyway? If it makes my life tolerable, why shouldn't I use it when I need to?

A. Agoraphobia can keep people trapped at home because they panic in public places. If Ativan has allowed you to function well with this debilitating condition and you have not experienced side effects, we don't understand why your doctor wants to change your regimen.

Ativan (lorazepam) is an anti-anxiety agent in the benzodiazepine class of drugs. That means it is related to Valium (diazepam) and Xanax (alprazolam).

Some people become dependent on such medications and find it extremely difficult to stop using them. One man wrote us about his difficulties:

"I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and social anxiety from childhood abuse. My psychiatrist started me on a long pharmaceutical odyssey that ended with Xanax. After behavioral therapy, I feel it's time to get off Xanax but I can't. Taking it causes memory loss and urinary and sexual problems. I've tried cutting the dose gradually, but the withdrawal symptoms (anxiety and insomnia) are excruciating."

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Featured Home Remedy

Sour Cherries Relieve Gout Pain
I want to tell you how much I have benefited from eating cherries to combat gout. I read a letter in your column from a reader who described how helpful they had been for him.

At the time I was suffering from a painful lingering attack to my left foot; I had to stick my foot out of the bed to keep the sheet off it.

I immediately bought a can of tart red cherries and ate 30 of them. A few hours later, I felt a cooling sensation in my foot, and the pain began to go away. It was like a miracle! I immediately ate another dozen cherries. By bedtime my foot was no longer swollen and felt cool to the touch.

Since then I have had NO debilitating gout attacks. I eat a few cherries (5 or so) every morning, and that seems to keep things right. Once in a while I'll feel a warning twinge, eat a dozen cherries, and the twinge goes away.

[Editor's note...Cherryflex capsules are another way to get the anti-inflammatory activity from cherries. Information at www.cherryflex.com]

You can read more home remedies on our website:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.org/archives/home_remedies/index.php

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Health Headlines:

Tough Job May Harm the Heart
Job strain and stress can be hard on the heart! Canadian researchers recruited nearly 1000 subjects under 60 years of age who had recently experienced a heart attack. These people went back to work and the investigators interviewed them about the demands of their jobs. They were surveyed at 6 weeks, 2 years and 6 years after returning to work. Jobs that made high demands but offered little decision latitude or control were twice as likely to be associated with a recurrent heart attack or severe angina.
Cardiologists may want to start considering job stress as a potential risk factor for heart disease. The Canadian researchers suggest that collaborative rather than competitive work environments might be healthier for those at high risk for heart disease.
[JAMA Oct 10, 2007]
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/298/14/1652

Strained Close Relationship Boosts Heart Risk
Stressful relationship at home can also increase a person's risk for heart disease. British researchers questions roughly 9,000 civil servants about their intimate relationships. Those who reported a lot of conflict and hurtful exchanges with a partner were one third more likely to experience heart attacks, chest pain or other cardiac consequences over the course of 12 years. The more stress people experienced in their close personal relationships at home the more likely they were to develop cardiovascular complications. If someone has a difficult job and conflict at home the strain on the heart may hard to overcome.
[Archives of Internal Medicine, October 8, 2007]
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/167/18/1951

Topamax May Help Alcoholics
A drug frequently prescribed to prevent seizures or migraine headaches may also do double duty in the treatment of alcoholism. Topamax was found to help heavy drinkers resist the temptation to drink. The subjects in the study attended brief counseling sessions in which they were encouraged but not required to stop drinking. They were randomized to receive either Topamax or placebo. Those on the active drug had fewer days in which they drank heavily over the 14 week study.
Adverse reactions to Topamax include tingling due to nerve damage, headache, changes in taste perception, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and insomnia. Scientists don't know how Topamax compares to other drugs that are approved for treating alcoholism, such as ReVia or Campral. No matter what drug is used to help in the fight against alcohol dependence, patients need support, counseling and personal motivation to overcome this hard-to-treat disease.
[JAMA Oct 10, 2007]
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/298/14/1641

Stored Blood Loses Essential Gas
People who need blood transfusions must depend on blood that has been stored for days or weeks. A new study suggests that as blood is stored it loses a critical blood gas called nitric oxide. Levels of this compound drop as much as 70 percent within one day.
Without nitric oxide, blood has a harder time delivering oxygen and other crucial nutrients to tissues. Scientists at Duke University found that when they restored nitric oxide to banked blood before transfusing it to dogs, the animals fared much better. Blood flow to the heart doubled when they used the nitric-oxide rich blood.
This research may explain why some people who receive blood transfusions do not do as well as expected. Some appear at triple the risk for heart attacks or even death when compared to those who did not receive a transfusion. If the research on nitric oxide replenishment holds up, thousands of lives may be saved.
[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]

Hot Peppers May Offer Anesthesia Advance
Research in rats may offer a new way to provide local anesthesia with few complications. Harvard scientists have found that injecting capsaicin, the hot stuff in hot peppers, together with an inactive derivative of lidocaine, can provide impressive pain relief without causing numbness. If this preliminary research holds up, this combination could be used by dentists, obstetricians and surgeons to provide local anesthesia without causing numbness or paralysis.
[Nature, Oct 4, 2007]
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7162/edsumm/e071004-08.html

Antidepressants Linked to Bleeding Ulcers
Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin are known to increase the risk for stomach irritation or even bleeding ulcers. Researchers have now established that SSRI-type antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft also pose a risk to the digestive tract. Scientists combined data from four studies involving over 150,000 patients. Those taking the SSRI medications were roughly twice as likely to experience gastrointestinal bleeding. If the patients were also taking an non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, the risk jumped to six times higher than people taking neither drug. Since digestive tract hemorrhage can be life-threatening, such drug combinations are cause for serious concern.
[Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Online, October, 2007]
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03541.x