Dr. Dave: Of Vioxx, Valium and vitamins -- oh, and that pesky thing called death
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 7:03 AM PDT
By Dr. Dave Hepburn
Printable version
E-mail this articleWas in Manhattan. Went to Wall Street. Asked for my money back. Told to go rub the bull's snout. While most folks know where they were when Kennedy was shot or Henderson scored, doctors remember where they were for important medical events such as the news of the Human Genome completion, the Vioxx recall and all PGA championships.
I first heard of the Vioxx recall in Manhattan, with the radio blaring "Have you or a loved one taken Vioxx and lived to tell about it? Well tell us at Liddy, Gait and Tsu and we will make it worth our and your while..."
New York lawyers; vicious, venomous Vioxx vultures.
Vioxx: "Trust me Bloggins, I'm a doctor. This Vioxx will help so much you'll be shocked." Little did we know that the shock referred to using paddles while yelling "All clear!"
The problem is that Vioxx works very well for pain associated with arthritis, a pain that can reduce the average man to the average wimp (not far I'm told.) All physicians have patients who thought we were great doctors because we alleviated their pain with Vioxx.
But they were fooled. We are not great doctors. So now that our wailing rooms are full of impatient patients wanting to know what to take instead of Vioxx, what are our choices?
The company that makes Celebrex, a drug that is in the same class as Vioxx, has become twitchy and withdrawn all advertising. Although this drug's safety profile is in question for patients with cardiac disease, they remain an excellent alternative in most people, at least as of 2:45:17 February 10, 2006.
To make matters even more exciting, the FDA has just issued a warning about Naproxen, another anti-arthritis pain medication that has been around for 30 years. A study on the use of Naproxen or Celebrex to prevent Alzheimer's had to be stopped as the Naproxen caused a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and stroke.
"The good news, Bloggins, is that you will have a clear recollection of your angioplasty." Interestingly enough, the same study found Celebrex to be perfectly fine! Stay tuned.
Vitamins
When I graduated medical school, the dean took me aside and said to me "Dave, don't ever let me catch you practicing on my family."
He also advised that, "50 percent of what you have learned in medical school is right and 50 percent is wrong. The problem is we don't know which 50 is which."
Never has that statement been so applicable as it is with respect to vitamins. Vitamin E is ingested by the vitamin ingestors in order to decrease the risk of heart attacks. Heck, I took it. Now we find out that not only does Vitamin E not protect the heart but it also may have a wee side effect that could be a bit of a problem, death.
Vitamins A and C are taken by the same crowd to decrease the risk of catching the cancer bug. But new studies indicate that those who take these vitamins may have an increased risk of cancer rather than be protected against it. And infants who are fed multivitamins have now been shown to have a suspected increase in asthma and food allergies. Wonderful.
To those who take vitamins A, C or E and have survived to read this column I suggest speaking to your doctor, you know the guy who put you on Vioxx. Trust me.
Valium
This killer V (diazepam) and its tranquilizing pam sisters lorazepam, clonazepam, oxazepam etc. are now responsible for more car accidents than alcohol. In the short term these can be very effective medications to alleviate anxiety, but taken for too long can lead to addiction. Drowsiness and loss of coordination means that those taking this medication should think twice about potentially dangerous activities such as driving, flying or dancing with George Hamilton.
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