Why You Shouldn’t Mix Alcohol with Metronidazole Pills

Many times we are told by our doctors not to combine certain medicines with other drugs and chemicals due to its potential side effects and drug interactions. Before you are prescribed with certain medicines by your doctor, you should be well aware of the precautions as well as how the medications will function so that you will know what to expect. Generally this is part of the patient safety rules. That is why you will find a leaflet packed together with the medicines you have bought so you can have something to glance on during your treatment. Leaflets contain the general instructions, precautions, the general dos and don’ts, as well as a brief list of drugs or chemical that you should never combine with your medication.

Metronidazole pills are antibacterial drugs with its sole purpose to kill and eliminate infections caused by various types of bacteria and parasites. Most of these infections can occur in the digestive tract, genital area, lungs, and other internal organs. With metronidazole pills it is easier to eliminate such body intruders by simply killing the pathogens and parasites and prevent them from coming back.

Although Metronidazole pills are very powerful and beneficial antibiotic, take note that it is still a drug that might have some drawbacks especially when taken together with other chemicals and drugs. That is why you need to discuss with your doctor about your treatment prior of taking Metronidazole pills. Among the most prohibited chemicals that you should never ingest with metronidazole is alcohol. So what makes Metronidazole pills and alcohol a dangerous combo? Read more…

Salt in the (internal) wound

How many of your patients know how much salt is there in an Oreo cookie? Probably a lot more than you or they might think. Three cookies give you fully 11% of your daily recommend, for children the figure is a lot higher. Perhaps you'd be better to switch to low fat cottage cheese. No you wouldn't. A single serving contains one quarter of the daily adult intake.

These are some of the numbers from a US government commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine which estimates salt causes 100,000 premature deaths due to hypertension and related diseases.

“Salt is very addicting,” says Sidney Alexander, a Boston cardiologist. He sees his patients struggle. “Even though there are good salt substitutes and other spices they can use, they have a hard time giving it up."

There's very little you can do to avoid over dosing on salt unless you eat only food prepared at home. Three-quarters of the salt you consume comes from processed food and that served in restaurants. Some dishes contain three and four times the daily requirement.

For more see the New York Times report at http://nyti.ms/dDm0tP