Latest news with #AnnalsofEmergencyMedicine
Mint
19-07-2025
- Health
- Mint
7 common medicines that may secretly harm your heart health, reveals heart surgeon
Your heart works tirelessly, beating over 100,000 times a day to keep you alive, yet it is often taken for granted. With rising stress, sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, and poor sleep, heart problems are becoming more common than ever, even among younger people. While many are aware that smoking, high cholesterol, and lack of exercise can hurt heart health, few realize that certain everyday medicines might be quietly adding to the risk. From pills we pop for a headache or cold to drugs for chronic conditions, some of them could strain the heart in unexpected ways. Yes, there are a few common medications that, when misused or taken long-term, may actually do your heart more harm than good. Here are some common medicines that may take a toll on your heart, leading to serious complications like high blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure, and even stroke: Over-the-counter pain relievers like Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, and Nimesulide are widely used medicines for treating pain, fever, and inflammation. But what many people do not realize is that these drugs can quietly affect your heart health. "Long-term or high-dose use of NSAIDs can lead to high blood pressure, fluid retention, and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, especially in those with existing heart issues," warns Dr Swarup Swaraj Pal, Senior Consultant Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon at Gleneagles Hospitals. A study published in the British Medical Journal found that taking NSAIDs, even for just a week, can significantly raise your risk of a heart attack. To deal with seasonal cold and flu, decongestants like phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine are commonly used. However, they may do more than good. "Decongestants can constrict blood vessels, leading to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure," explains Dr Swarup. For individuals with hypertension or pre-existing cardiac conditions, this can be dangerous. The Annals of Emergency Medicine reports that these drugs can overstimulate the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart attack or other complications. While antidepressants can help improve mental health, some types, especially tricyclic antidepressants like Amitriptyline or SSRIs like Fluoxetine, can potentially affect your heart rhythm. "These drugs may increase heart rate and, in people with structural heart disease or arrhythmias, lead to palpitations or irregular heartbeats," says Dr Swarup. If you have any known heart issues, it is important to discuss potential side effects with your psychiatrist or cardiologist before starting or changing antidepressant medication. Some medications used to manage type 2 diabetes, such as Pioglitazone, are known to cause fluid retention. In some cases, this can lead to heart failure. It is particularly risky in people who already have any heart health problems. If you are on anti-diabetic medication, make sure your doctor keeps a close watch on your heart health. Antibiotics like Azithromycin and Clarithromycin are often prescribed for respiratory or bacterial infections. However, they can interfere with your heart's electrical activity. "These drugs can lead to arrhythmias, especially when taken alongside other heart-sensitive medicines," notes Dr Swarup. They are not dangerous for everyone, but in people with heart conditions or those taking multiple medications, the combination could be risky. Corticosteroids, often referred to simply as steroids, are commonly prescribed for asthma, arthritis, and allergic conditions because of their anti-inflammatory properties. But they can come with serious cardiovascular side effects. According to a study in the Canadian Respiratory Journal, oral corticosteroids were linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). Why? These drugs can cause the body to retain sodium and fluid, leading to increased pressure in blood vessels and added strain on the heart.
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Study Finds 85% Of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Sufferers End Up In The ER
CHS can cause nausea, uncontrollable vomiting and intense pain. A recent study, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, analyzed the disease burden and risk factors for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that impacts some long term cannabis consumers. This painful condition can lead to symptoms like nausea, uncontrollable vomiting and intense pain. These symptoms can reoccur in a cyclical pattern for as long as cannabis use continues. This cycle can send patients on repeated visits to the ER, and in rare cases, can even lead to death from kidney failure. While the prevalence of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (or CHS) has not been fully assessed, rates have been increasing as more people become daily or near daily cannabis users, and as awareness of the condition increases amongst medical professionals. Daily or near daily cannabis use was almost universal for CHS sufferers in this study. To better assess the risks and burdens associated with CHS, researchers at the George Washington University surveyed 1,052 people who self-reported having cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. The respondents were asked about the frequency of their cannabis use, duration of their use, the age they started consuming cannabis, and whether they had ever needed care at an emergency department or hospital. The results revealed some features of the syndrome. For one thing, daily cannabis use before CHS began was nearly universal amongst the respondents, with 40% reporting using cannabis more than 5 times a day. Prolonged use was also common, with 44% reporting that they had used cannabis for more than 5 years before CHS began. In addition, the risks for ER trips and hospitalization were high. 85% of the CHS patients reported at least 1 emergency department visit and 44% reported at least 1 hospitalization associated with their hyperemesis symptoms. Interestingly, early age of cannabis initiation was associated with higher odds of emergency department visits for CHS symptoms over their lifetime. This study did have some limitations. As a survey that recruited respondents from CHS support groups, there are some self-selection issues. Patients with more severe symptoms may have been more likely to seek out support groups than those with milder symptoms, which may skew the results. Patients also self-reported their CHS status as well as all symptoms and cannabis use, without methods for researchers to confirm the accuracy of their self-assessments. Still, the study suggests that the disease burden of CHS could be high. It is worth investigating further in future research. 'This is one of the first large studies to examine the burden of disease associated with this cannabis-linked syndrome,' explains Andrew Meltzer, professor of emergency medicine at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences and lead author of the study. 'Our findings suggest that cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome could represent a costly and largely hidden public health problem.' Meltzer also suggests that other clinicians should share information about CHS and its risks with patients who use cannabis frequently or who have hyperemesis. Many patients don't realize that the syndrome is connected with their use of cannabis, and may even be using cannabis in attempts to ease their nausea. While not everyone who uses cannabis regularly will suffer from CHS, for those who do, the research suggests that the only known effective treatment is to fully stop using any form of cannabis or hemp.
