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According To Script
RUTHAN
BRODSKY
PHOTOS BY DANIEL LI PPITT
SPECIAL TO THE
JEWISH NEWS
Dr. David Rosenberg examines a patient.
Patients must
follow the rules
to get the most
from their
medications.
M
ost of us are familiar with the not-so-seri-
ous reactions to a medication: feeling
queazy, light headed or even a bit de-
pressed.
But some people react severely. These are the peo-
ple who list on their medical history questionnaires
about being allergic to an antibiotic, medication or
anesthesia. And we've all heard stories about an el-
derly person — and even the not so elderly — diag-
nosed as having dementia until someone realized the
patient was too heavily medicated.
Actually, much of the time our own body is its own
best healer. The old saw that a cold will get better —
by itself in seven days, or in a week with medication
— still holds true.
"It's very common for people who come down with
the flu or a bad cold to demand a prescription for an
antibiotic from their doctor," says Dr. Richard Kush-
ner, a general practitioner and pediatrician at the Red-
ford Clinic. "Antibiotics don't work on a virus, but most
doctors cave in to their patients' demands.
"As a result, we've been over-prescribing antibiotics
and some diseases have become drug-resistant. All
medications have side effects and need to be moni-
tored."
When our bodies need some help, physicians and
other health care professionals are well aware that
drugs are a foreign substance and should be taken
knowing the risk-benefit.
"I ask my patients to list all the medications they're
taking, even the over-the-counter (OTC) medications,"
says Dr. David Rosenberg, a family physician spe-
cializing in geriatrics in West Bloomfield. "Sometimes
a patient takes more than the recommended dose of
the OTC drug because he things it must be okay be-
cause it's not a prescription. But even small excessive
doses can turn a reasonably safe remedy into a dan-
gerous substance."
Dr. Rosenberg says the recently switched heart-
burn drugs, for instance, can trigger headaches and
confusion for some patients. Too much of a decon-
gestant contained in diet pills and some cold medi-
cines can trigger a severe blood pressure rise. And
most patients aren't going to know that a deconges-
tant or some other cold remedy could be interfering
with their medication for a prostate problem.
"If my patients have a cold and want to take some-
thing to ease the symptoms, I ask them to read the la-
ACCORDING TO SCRIPT page 72