Furosemide, drug used to help the body remove excess fluid by increasing urine flow, also known as a diuretic. This is useful in the treatment of high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and liver disease. It reduces water and salt in the body, relieving pressure on the circulatory system and various organs.
Furosemide must be prescribed by a doctor. Available in tablet and liquid form, it is usually taken twice a day in dosages starting at 20 to 80 mg. This is increased as needed to a maximum daily dosage of 600 mg. The drug may be taken with food to minimize stomach irritation.
Effectiveness is usually apparent after two to three weeks, although long-term treatment (months to years) is not uncommon with this drug. Potassium supplements or a potassium-rich diet is needed in some patients to prevent excess potassium loss.
Patients with liver or kidney disease, diabetes, gout, lupus erythematosus, or an allergy to sulfa drugs should use furosemide with caution. Its safety for use during pregnancy is not known, but it does appear in breast milk.
Children may take this drug, with dosage based on body weight.
Possible side effects may include constipation, diarrhea, nausea, headache, fever, dizziness, excessive thirst, skin rash, hives, impotence, ringing in the ears, light-sensitivity, or blurred vision. Furosemide may interact adversely with aspirin, barbiturates, narcotics, and other muscle-relaxing drugs.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
SMOKING IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH
Skull with a Burning Cigarette by Vincent van Gogh, oil on canvas, 1885.
SMOKING
Some epidemiologists noticed, however, that lung cancer, which was rare before the 20th century, had increased dramatically since about 1930. The American Cancer Society and other organizations initiated studies comparing deaths among smokers and nonsmokers over a period of several years. All such studies found increased mortality among smokers, both from cancer and other causes. In addition, experimental studies in animals showed that many of the chemicals contained in cigarette smoke are carcinogenic. In 1962 the U.S. government appointed a panel of ten scientists to study the available evidence. Their conclusions were included in the 1964 surgeon general’s report, which stated that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action.” Smoking in adults, measured as an average number of cigarettes smoked per year, began to decline steadily after the 1964 report and has fallen more than 40 percent.
Smoking, inhalation and exhalation of the fumes of burning tobacco. Leaves of the tobacco plant are smoked in various ways. After a drying and curing process, they may be rolled into cigars or shredded for insertion into smoking pipes. Cigarettes, the most popular method of smoking, consist of finely shredded tobacco rolled in lightweight paper. About 48 million people in the United States smoke an estimated total of 430 billion cigarettes each year. Until the 1940s, smoking was considered harmless, but laboratory and clinical research has since confirmed that tobacco smoke presents a hazard to health. Smoke from the average cigarette contains around 4,000 chemicals, some of which are highly toxic and at least 43 of which cause cancer. Nicotine, a major constituent of tobacco smoke, is both poisonous and highly addictive. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is the most preventable cause of death in America today.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF SMOKING
The American Cancer Society estimates that cigarettes are responsible for about 431,000 deaths in the United States each year. Lung cancer accounts for about 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States, and smoking accounts for nearly 90 percent of lung cancer deaths.
The risks of dying from lung cancer are 23 times higher for male smokers and 13 times higher for female smokers than for nonsmokers. Additionally, smokers are at increased risk for cancer of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas.
Smoking causes a fivefold increase in the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and a twofold increase in deaths from diseases of the heart and coronary arteries. Smoking also increases the risk of stroke by 50 percent—40 percent among men and 60 percent among women.
Other research has shown that mothers who smoke give birth more frequently to premature or underweight babies, probably because of a decrease in blood flow to the placenta. Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are also at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome.
Cigar and pipe smoke contains the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds found in cigarette smoke. A report by the National Cancer Institute concluded that the mortality rates from cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, pharynx, and esophagus are approximately equal in users of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.
Rates of coronary heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis are elevated for cigar and pipe smokers and are correlated to the amount of smoking and the degree of inhalation.
The ways in which tobacco smoke affects the human body have been studied intensely. Recent findings may explain why cigarettes are addictive. An unknown component of tobacco smoke appears to destroy an important brain enzyme, monoamine oxidase B (MAO B). The enzyme is vital for breaking down excess amounts of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers pleasure-seeking behavior.
Smokers have decreased levels of MAO B and abnormally high levels of dopamine, which may encourage the smoker to seek the pleasure of more tobacco smoke.
Recent research has focused on the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)—that is, the effect of tobacco smoke on nonsmokers who must share the same environment with a smoker.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that exposure to ETS, which contains all the toxic agents inhaled by a smoker, causes 3,000 cancer deaths and an estimated 40,000 deaths from heart disease per year in nonsmokers. Secondhand smoke can aggravate asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and impaired blood circulation.
The smoking habit and addiction to nicotine usually begin at an early age. In the United States, more than 70 percent of adults who smoke began smoking before the age of 18. This fact has led to particular concern over smoking in teenagers and young adults.
From the early to mid-1990s the proportion of teenage smokers in the United States rose from one-quarter to one-third, despite increasing warnings about the health hazards of smoking and widespread bans on smoking in public places.
A 1998 report from the surgeon general confirmed that this trend continues, especially among racial and ethnic minorities. For example, although black teenagers have the lowest smoking rates of any racial group, cigarette smoking among black teens increased 80 percent in the late 1990s. Advertisements aimed at a young audience are largely blamed for this new generation of smokers.
SMOKING
Some epidemiologists noticed, however, that lung cancer, which was rare before the 20th century, had increased dramatically since about 1930. The American Cancer Society and other organizations initiated studies comparing deaths among smokers and nonsmokers over a period of several years. All such studies found increased mortality among smokers, both from cancer and other causes. In addition, experimental studies in animals showed that many of the chemicals contained in cigarette smoke are carcinogenic. In 1962 the U.S. government appointed a panel of ten scientists to study the available evidence. Their conclusions were included in the 1964 surgeon general’s report, which stated that “cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action.” Smoking in adults, measured as an average number of cigarettes smoked per year, began to decline steadily after the 1964 report and has fallen more than 40 percent.
Smoking, inhalation and exhalation of the fumes of burning tobacco. Leaves of the tobacco plant are smoked in various ways. After a drying and curing process, they may be rolled into cigars or shredded for insertion into smoking pipes. Cigarettes, the most popular method of smoking, consist of finely shredded tobacco rolled in lightweight paper. About 48 million people in the United States smoke an estimated total of 430 billion cigarettes each year. Until the 1940s, smoking was considered harmless, but laboratory and clinical research has since confirmed that tobacco smoke presents a hazard to health. Smoke from the average cigarette contains around 4,000 chemicals, some of which are highly toxic and at least 43 of which cause cancer. Nicotine, a major constituent of tobacco smoke, is both poisonous and highly addictive. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking is the most preventable cause of death in America today.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF SMOKING
The American Cancer Society estimates that cigarettes are responsible for about 431,000 deaths in the United States each year. Lung cancer accounts for about 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States, and smoking accounts for nearly 90 percent of lung cancer deaths.
The risks of dying from lung cancer are 23 times higher for male smokers and 13 times higher for female smokers than for nonsmokers. Additionally, smokers are at increased risk for cancer of the larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas.
Smoking causes a fivefold increase in the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and a twofold increase in deaths from diseases of the heart and coronary arteries. Smoking also increases the risk of stroke by 50 percent—40 percent among men and 60 percent among women.
Other research has shown that mothers who smoke give birth more frequently to premature or underweight babies, probably because of a decrease in blood flow to the placenta. Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are also at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome.
Cigar and pipe smoke contains the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds found in cigarette smoke. A report by the National Cancer Institute concluded that the mortality rates from cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, pharynx, and esophagus are approximately equal in users of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.
Rates of coronary heart disease, lung cancer, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis are elevated for cigar and pipe smokers and are correlated to the amount of smoking and the degree of inhalation.
The ways in which tobacco smoke affects the human body have been studied intensely. Recent findings may explain why cigarettes are addictive. An unknown component of tobacco smoke appears to destroy an important brain enzyme, monoamine oxidase B (MAO B). The enzyme is vital for breaking down excess amounts of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers pleasure-seeking behavior.
Smokers have decreased levels of MAO B and abnormally high levels of dopamine, which may encourage the smoker to seek the pleasure of more tobacco smoke.
Recent research has focused on the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)—that is, the effect of tobacco smoke on nonsmokers who must share the same environment with a smoker.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that exposure to ETS, which contains all the toxic agents inhaled by a smoker, causes 3,000 cancer deaths and an estimated 40,000 deaths from heart disease per year in nonsmokers. Secondhand smoke can aggravate asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and impaired blood circulation.
The smoking habit and addiction to nicotine usually begin at an early age. In the United States, more than 70 percent of adults who smoke began smoking before the age of 18. This fact has led to particular concern over smoking in teenagers and young adults.
From the early to mid-1990s the proportion of teenage smokers in the United States rose from one-quarter to one-third, despite increasing warnings about the health hazards of smoking and widespread bans on smoking in public places.
A 1998 report from the surgeon general confirmed that this trend continues, especially among racial and ethnic minorities. For example, although black teenagers have the lowest smoking rates of any racial group, cigarette smoking among black teens increased 80 percent in the late 1990s. Advertisements aimed at a young audience are largely blamed for this new generation of smokers.
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