Valsartan for treating high blood pressure

Valsartan is an angiotensin II receptor antagonist. Valsartan keeps blood vessels from narrowing, which lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow. It is used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension) in adults and children who are at least 6 years old. Valsartan is also used in adults to treat heart failure, and to lower the risk of death after a heart attack. It is sometimes given together with other blood pressure medications.

If you have diabetes, do not use valsartan together with any medication that contains aliskiren (Amturnide, Tekturna, Tekamlo, Valturna). Before taking this medicine. Do not use valsartan if you are allergic to it. You may take valsartan with or without food. Take the medicine at the same time each day. If a child taking valsartan cannot swallow a capsule whole, your pharmacist can mix the medicine into a liquid. Shake this liquid well just before you measure a dose.

Measure the liquid with a special dose-measuring spoon or medicine cup, not with a regular table spoon. You may have very low blood pressure while taking valsartan. Call your doctor if you are sick with vomiting or diarrhea, or if you are sweating more than usual. Drinking alcohol can further lower your blood pressure and may increase certain side effects of valsartan. Do not use potassium supplements or salt substitutes while you are taking valsartan, unless your doctor has told you to.

Avoid getting up too fast from a sitting or lying position, or you may feel dizzy. Get up slowly and steady yourself to prevent a fall. Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. In rare cases, valsartan can cause a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, leading to kidney failure. Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness especially if you also have fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine.
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Benznidazole drug for treating American trypanosomiasis

Benznidazole belongs to a group of medicines called antiprotozoals. It is used to treat an infection called American trypanosomiasis.
Benznidazole works by killing the protozoa.

Take the medicine with meals, after breakfast and after supper, to decrease the chance of stomach upset. If you get an upset stomach (diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain, or vomiting) and it continues, check with your doctor.

Although rare, Benznidazole can lower the number of white blood cells in the blood, increasing the chance of getting an infection. It can also lower the number of platelets, which are necessary for proper blood clotting.

Common side effects of this drug are-
Convulsions (seizures); numbness, tingling pain, or weakness in hands or feet; reddish discoloration of skin,
fever or chills; pinpoint red spots on skin; skin rash; sore throat; unusual bleeding or bruising.

Other side effects are- abdominal or stomach pain; diarrhea; nausea; vomiting, confusion; dizziness; headache; restlessness; temporary loss of memory; trouble in sleeping; difficulty concentrating; unusual tiredness and fatigue.
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Duzallo drugs for treating gout

Duzallo is a prescription medicine that contains two medicines, a URAT1 inhibitor called lesinurad and a xanthine oxidase inhibitor called allopurinol. It is used to lower uric acid levels in the blood of people with gout.

Active ingredients are lesinurad and allopurinol. Inactive ingredients: crospovidone, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, titanium dioxide, and triacetin.

Duzallo can cause serious side effects, like kidney problems. People taking Duzallo may have kidney problems such as a sudden decrease in kidney function (acute kidney failure).
Duzallo can affect bone marrow and cause low red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Other side effects are: skin rash; blistering of the skin, mouth, nose, and genitals, painful red or purple skin that looks burned and peels off, joint pain; swollen glands red, painful, watery eyes; persistent itching; hives, fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, nausea, heartburn and diarrhea
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Mavyret for treating chronic hepatitis C

Mavyret is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C virus HCV genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis. It contains two medicines: glecaprevir and pibrentasvir.

If you have ever had hepatitis B virus infection, the hepatitis B virus could become active again during or after treatment of hepatitis C virus with Mavyret. Hepatitis B virus becoming active again may cause serious liver problems including liver failure and death.

The common side effects are headache and tiredness.

The active ngredients in Mavyret are: glecaprevir and pibrentasvir

Inactive ingredients: colloidal silicon dioxide, copovidone (type K 28), croscarmellose sodium, hypromellose 2910, iron oxide red, lactose monohydrate, polyethylene glycol 3350, propylene glycol monocaprylate (type II), sodium stearyl fumarate, titanium dioxide, and vitamin E (tocopherol) polyethylene glycol succinate.
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Vosevi drug for hepatitis treatment

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that can cause inflammation and serious damage to the liver. The virus is spread through human contact with infected blood.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Vosevi (sofosbuvir 400 mg/velpatasvir 100 mg/voxilaprevir 100 mg) tablets, a single-tablet regimen for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Vosevi is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with chronic (lasting a long time) hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis who have:
genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 infection and have previously been treated with an HCV regimen containing an NS5A inhibitor.

Do not combine Vosevi with any medicines that contain rifampin (Rifater, Rifamate, Rimactane, Rifadin).
Before taking Vosevi

The drug can cause serious side effects, like: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation, slow heart rate, fainting,
dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pains, confusion, memory problems, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, and nausea.
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Tremfya drug for treating plaque psoriasis

Plaque psoriasis is an inherited systemic inflammatory disease of immune dysfunction that causes plaques of elevated, scaling and inflamed skin.

The plaques are common on the scalp, elbows, and knees. Genetic and environmental factors are the most causes of the disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDAhas approved Tremfya (guselkumab), an interleukin-23 blocker for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

 Tremfya is a medicine that may lower the ability of immune system to fight infections and may increase risk of infections.

Tremfya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills.

Common side effects of this drug are:
upper respiratory infections, joint pain,
fungal skin infections, headache and diarrhea.
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Secrets of longevity

Healthy lifestyle is the secret of long life. Seven hours of sleep per night, regular exercise, eating healthy foods and avoiding stressful activities can increase your longevity.

Food is medicine, healthy diet is better than drugs, processed foods contributes to diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and many other terminal diseases.

 You can adopt longevity lifestyle by eating more of plant based healthy diet everyday; start with fruits, vegetables, seeds, whole grains, nuts, legumes and drink enough water. Water is better than any other liquid you know.

Moderate consumption of protein, sugar and refined carbohydrates. Cook with extra virgin olive oil and remember to fast after you feast. Fasting makes insulin sensitive and improves metabolic functions. Eat small portion of food; the less you eat the longer you will live.

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Heart disease and diabetes can be prevented by traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicines could prevent heart disease and the progression of pre-diabetes.

Some herbal treatments proved as effective in lowering blood pressure as Western drugs and improved heart health by lowering cholesterol.

Chinese medicines could be used alongside conventional treatments,  or
they can be use as an alternative for patients intolerant of Western drugs.

The Chinese have used herbs for treating diseases for many years.
The blood pressure-lowering effect of herb zhongfujiangya was found to be similar to that of oral anti-hypertension medication benazeprilm, which goes by the brand name Lotensin.

 Patients treated for eight weeks with herbal tiankuijiangya had a lower reading than those given a placebo.
Herbal Jiangya tablets were found to significantly lower systolic blood pressure.

The herb Jiangyabao also had a significant effect compared to a placebo, but overall, compared to the drug Nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker, Qiqilian  capsules also proved more effective compared to a placebo.

Some remedies – such as tangzhiping and tianqi – might prevent the progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes.

The researchers looked at research on dyslipidemia, the term for unbalanced or unhealthy cholesterol levels. They
discovered that jiangzhitongluo, salviamiltiorrhiza and pueraria lobata, and zhibitai capsule all have a potent lipid-lowing effect.

Some traditional Chinese medicines such as qiliqiangxin, nuanxin, shencaotongmai, and yangxinkang, might be effective in improving function in patients with chronic heart failure.


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Side-effects of chemotherapy

CANCER is often treated with chemotherapy - a group of drugs used to destroy cancerous cells - but it comes with several side-effects.

Chemotherapy makes radiotherapy effective, relieves symptoms if a cure isn’t possible and reduce the risk of cancer coming back after radiotherapy or surgery.

There are two main types of chemotherapy- Intravenous
chemotherapy involves treatment via the vein. It is usually performed at hospital with medicine being given via a tube.

Oral chemotherapy is a tablets for treating cancer, it can kill cancer cells and healthy cells- particularly blood cells, skin cells and cells in the stomach.

Chemotherapy for brain cancer can kill some healthy brain cells, causing depression. Chemotherapy targets cells which are fast-growing - like cancer - but this also affect hair, bone marrow, skin and lining of digestive system.

Most of these will disappear after treatment, normal cells can replace or repair the damaged ones, and some might occur when taking the drugs.

Link between migraines and body mass index

Migraines are severe, painful headache disorder, common symptoms are: nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, sound or smell.

Physician suggested stress management, relaxation, regular exercise and eating regularly to manage symptoms of migraines.

Researchers examined 290,000 people and discovered that obese people had a 27 percent higher risk of migraine than the people with normal weight while underweight had 13 percent higher risk of migraine compared with  normal weight people.

According to Dr. Lee Peterlin of Johns Hopkins University School of medicine, a member of the American Academy of Neurology said age and sex were key variables in the correlation between migraine risk and body mass index.

Obesity and being underweight are possible risk factors for migraine, taking this into consideration will enhance effective treatment of migraine.

The link between blood vessels and Immune system

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that tumor blood vessels and immune system influences each other's roles.

There are different therapies for cancer, some therapies stop tumour growth by controlling the blood vessels that protects the tumor mass, others work on the immune system and trying to destroy the tumor.

Anti blood vessel therapies and immunotherapies have been used in treatment of cancer; immunotherapy has record great success in some cancer treatment like melanoma, but some patients are not responding to these therapies.

Researchers suggest consideration of vascular structure of the tumor and the presence of immune cells and their activities. Anti-cancer therapies toward the blood vessels is influencing the anti-tumor immune response and the other way round. Combining the therapies may produce a better result.

Health benefits of keeping dogs

Dog is one of the common pets in the world, dogs exist in a wide range of colours and sizes, common examples of dogs are: German Shepherd, Doberman pinscher, Beagle, Cocker spaniel, Collie and Welsh corgi.

Beagle and Cocker spaniel are playful family pets that are very useful at home.

Benefits of keeping dogs
• American Heart Association said dogs decrease risk of cardiovascular disease, playing with dogs is a form of exercise.

• Laughing and playing with dogs release serotonin and oxytocin hormone and block cortisol.

•Some beneficial bacteria in dogs are useful for human, keeping and staying with them will give you access to the healthy bacteria.

•Dogs are very sensitive, they can detect burglars easily and prevent intruder from coming closer.

• Trained dogs are used in medicine to detect cancer; they can detect prostrate cancer by smelling the patient's urine.