Understanding the Adverse Effects of Five Most Dangerous Prescription Drugs

Health 14 February, 2020

The modern times have not only brought convenience to our lives. But, has also encouraged a sedentary and stressful lifestyle that is taxing to both our brain and body. As a result, hospitals are swelling up with more and more people every day so that they can utilize the medical wonders of this era to stay healthy.

But, even the medical wonders like prescription drugs are causing us a lot of damage because we have been abusing them instead of using natural compounds more often. For example, we take myriads of painkillers to relieve ourselves from pain while the natural alternatives like CBD have the same effects. Therefore, we have listed here the five most dangerous prescription drugs and their adverse effects so that you think twice before taking them unnecessarily.

1. Sleeping Pills:

Long term abuse of sleeping pills does not only make you dependent but also has adverse long term impacts on your health. According to a study conducted by Dr. Petrov, long term usage of sleeping pills significantly increases the risk of experiencing strokes. Surprisingly, he found out that the correlation between sleeping pills and the risk of a stroke is much stronger than the link between the risk of a stroke and high cholesterol, or high blood pressure or excessive alcohol consumption.

2. Statins:

Statins or cholesterol drugs have been reported as one of the most dangerous drugs in terms of what they do to the heart of the user. In the last couple of decades, deaths due to heart failures have increased significantly, and during the same time, such drugs were approved and distributed in the market.

But, there is not only circumstantial evidence to support this theory because multiple reports have emphasized that statins inhibit the production of a crucial antioxidant called Co-Q10 that is responsible for preventing heart diseases. Moreover, a growing body of scholarship has stated that long term usage of these drugs can also result in chronic liver damage.

3. Blood Pressure Drugs:

There exists a whole cocktail of drugs used to control blood pressure, but calcium beta-blockers are the most common class of compounds used to treat hypertensive individuals. But, these drugs are reported to have myriads of side effects as well, e.g., chest pain, edema, breathing problems, arrhythmia, and heart failure.

4. Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) :

NSAIDs are often prescribed to treat joint pains and are readily available in the market, but several recent and older studies have painted a grim picture of the consequences of consuming these drugs. It has been linked to gastrointestinal issues because long term usage of these drugs results in damaging the stomach lining and causes ulceration. Moreover, such drugs have the potential to severely damage kidneys as well because continuous sodium and fluid retention in the kidneys lead to hypertension, which further increases the risk of cardiac incidents.

5. Diabetes drugs:

Diabetes drugs work by reducing the sugar level in the bloodstream of the consumer, but they have some side effects that you must be aware of. For example, Metformin is a drug most commonly used to treat diabetes, but it has been reported that its continuous consumption can lead to liver failure.

Lastly, we have talked here about the documented side effects of various drugs, but there have been undocumented side effects of some drugs as well that appeared after they have been approved and distributed. Zantac was one of such medications, and it was incredibly popular among the masses. But, its undocumented side effects led to chaos, and the company lost a lot of money on the Zantac Lawsuit phenomenon. Therefore, make sure that you strive hard to keep yourself healthy so that you do not have to rely on these prescription drugs.