天博体育

People with high blood pressure could benefit from a B vitamin known as folate if they are not getting enough from their diets, according to a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study included more than 20,000 adults in China with high blood pressure who had never had a stroke or heart attack. Participants who took folate supplements along with a blood pressure medication had fewer strokes over the four-and-one-half-year trial than those who only took the medication.

Many different medications can potentially harm the liver, so doctors sometimes do liver function tests to ensure safety. The worst-case scenario is liver failure, but when this happens, the cause is usually not prescription medications, but rather the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (Tylenol) or herbal supplements, according to a study in Gastroenterology.

Researchers scrutinized 5.4 million records of patients in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system from 2004 to 2010. They identified only 62 cases of liver failure, 32 of which were linked to medications. This may not precisely reflect national rates, but it does suggest that liver failure from medications is relatively uncommon.

After a small study hinted that taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) might increase blood pressure, some doctors worried that this popular painkiller might not be as safe as once assumed, particularly for people with heart disease. But those fears now appear unfounded, according to a March 2015 report in Hypertension.

Using records from a U.K. health database, researchers identified nearly 25,000 people ages 65 and older with high blood pressure. They then compared people who took acetaminophen with people who didn't take the drug over a 10-year period. After adjusting for possible confounding factors, they found no elevated risk of heart attack, stroke, or any cardiovascular events among people who used acetaminophen鈥攅ven among those who took the painkiller frequently. Despite this reassurance, be aware that high doses of acetaminophen can damage your liver. Don't take more than 3,000 milligrams (mg) a day. Over-the-counter pills (including some cold and flu drugs) may contain up to 650 mg of the drug, so check labels carefully.鈥�

It may boost the effect of your current medication.

It appears that people with high blood pressure who take folate along with the blood pressure medicine enalapril (Vasotec) may be less likely to have a stroke than people who take enalapril alone.

Relaxation, meditation, positive thinking, and other mind-body techniques can help reduce your need for pain medication.

Drugs are very good at getting rid of pain, but they often have unpleasant, and even serious, side effects when used for a long time. If you have backache, fibromyalgia, arthritis, or other chronic pain that interferes with your daily life, you may be looking for a way to relieve discomfort that doesn't involve drugs. Some age-old techniques鈥攊ncluding meditation and yoga鈥攁s well as newer variations may help reduce your need for pain medication.

By Anne Fabiny, M.D., Editor in Chief

President Barack Obama recently announced the Precision Medicine Initiative, a new program to speed up discoveries based on information and technology stemming from the Human Genome Project. "Precision medicine" and "personalized medicine" are terms that describe health care tailored to an individual patient's genetic makeup, using information about a patient's genome to diagnose illness and design therapies to treat and cure disease. This approach has been described as "the medicine of the future."

However, it may be reassuring to know that although your doctor doesn't have your genome at hand, he or she is likely to be giving you personalized care as we understand it today.

Allergies can cause great misery. Luckily, there are options to help manage symptoms and continue doing the things you enjoy. The goal is to find the treatment that best suits your allergies, your lifestyle, and your wallet. Here are three of the most common ways to find relief from allergy symptoms.

Antihistamines

These medications are the mainstay for treating the sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes that come with allergies. Antihistamines also relieve hives and other symptoms of some food allergies.

Many people who suffer from hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) are familiar with the older antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton). While these drugs work well, they leave many people feeling groggy, sleepy, or just "out of it." Thankfully, the newer generation of antihistamines, including cetirizine (Zyrtec), desloratadine (Clarinex), fexofenadine (Allegra), and loratadine (Claritin), are far less likely to cause drowsiness at recommended doses. Their effects are also longer lasting, so usually you need to take them only once a day instead of every four to six hours.

Preventing stroke is the top priority if your heart is beating irregularly. A variety of options can control symptoms.

A flutter in the chest and a racing heartbeat could be just a passing cardiac blip, perhaps triggered by emotional stress or too much caffeine. But sometimes it's a sign of atrial fibrillation鈥攖he irregular quivering of the heart's upper chambers, or atria.

It should be matched to the right pain condition and used for a limited time鈥攖hen switch to safer options.

Over-the-counter pain relievers are great for ordinary aches and pains, but for severe, unrelenting pain that interferes with daily life, you may need something stronger. In such cases, men may end up taking medications called opioids, which block pain perception in the brain. The best-known opioid drugs are oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin).