Over 300 Drugs Can Damage the Lungs

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Over 300 Drugs Can Damage the Lungs

 

 

http://www.mercola.com/2000/sep/24/drugs_lungs.htm

 

 

 

There are hundreds of drugs routinely prescribed against a variety of disorders that apparently can cause all kinds of lung diseases and damage, according to a recent report.

This damage can happen within a very short time or after several years. The effects are mostly unpredictable and some are irreversible, leaving damaging after-effects, according to the warning.

Drugs used to treat the following problems are just some of the culprits:

 

 

high blood pressure

allergies

rheumatism

certain cancers

common non-respiratory inflammations

According to a French researcher, so far 310 therapeutic substances have been identified as having such effects, and each year 20 to 30 new substances are being added to the list.

"This means the number is really much greater if you consider that each active principle in a preparation is usually marketed in several different forms," said French lung expert Philippe Camus of the University Medical Centre of Dijon.There are no less 50 different lung diseases and syndromes (ranging from simple coughs and breathlessness to pleurisies and even acute respiratory failures) that seem to be either caused or aggravated by drugs.

Researchers collected 4200 bibliographical references to investigate the effect of various drugs on the lungs.

They note that the information provided with the drug's packaging hardly ever warns patients that the medicine could potentially cause a lung disorder, and there are still not many doctors who give the matter due thought when they prescribe a treatment.

Researchers note that in about 70% of cases the early withdrawal of the medicine would increase the patient's chances of avoiding the damaging sequelae, and very often the medicine concerned could simply be replaced with another.

The researchers have put together an informative, comprehensive, and regularly updated Internet site which makes all this information available free of charge (http://www.pneumotox.com). The site is currently visited by 6000-7000 people per month. On the site, scientists have classified the incriminated substances into three categories, according to the number of reports published on their iatrogenic effects.

At the head of this list are a number of antihypertensive beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors used to treat congestive heart failure or hypertension, and Cordarone amiodarone administered in the treatment of ventricular arryhthmias.

But some antibiotics are well up the list, as are antirheumatics (including methotrexate and several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories), or ergot derivatives used to improve the brain functions of elderly patients or to treat Parkinson's disease.

A recent British study even showed that a commonly used analgesic, acetaminophen (paracetamol), was not entirely free of blame either. Conducted on more than 1,500 patients, the study concluded that people who take acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) every week have an 80% greater risk of suffering from asthma than people who never take any, while those who consume it daily are over twice as likely to have asthma.

New Evidence

An Oslo University team presented a recent study linking the use of busulphan and cyclophosphamide with a temporary reduction in the pulmonary function. A Spanish team reported similar results concerning the same medicines, prescribed during the preparation of a bone marrow transplant and against breast cancer.

A team from Cairo University announced results in showing that pneumonitis due to methotrexate is not unusual (over 8%) among Egyptians treated for rheumatoid arthritis.

Professor Camus and colleagues reported new cases of serious pulmonary complications found in patients suffering from bladder cancer, who had been given injections of BCG and mitomycin directly in the bladder. One patient even died of it, after an attack of accelerated interstitial pneumonia.

Professor Camus drew a simple conclusion from all of this research. "These accidents could largely be avoided, or at least reduced," he declared, "but only if certain conditions are satisfied."

 

 

 

"First, the practitioner who has been consulted (whatever his specialty) must be aware of what has happened.

 

Second, the patient has to consult as soon as he notices the slightest abnormal or lasting pulmonary symptom.

 

Third and last, the patient must immediately stop taking the suspect product, which is absolutely essential if sequelae are to be kept to a minimum."

"In addition to all those measures, there are many changes needed in epidemiology, if such cases are to be properly dealt with, instead of being treated merely as therapeutic accidents".

First World Congress on Lung Health and Respiratory Diseases Florence, Italy, August-September 2000

Dr. Mercola's Comment: Drug based approaches are nearly invariably destined to cause some type of negative side effect. Hopefully this information will help guide those who are currently taking any of the listed drugs to seek more natural alternatives.

The website set up by the researchers (http://www.pneumotox.com) is an excellent resource. If you find that medications that you are currently taking are on the list, this should serve as an excellent motivating tool to improve your health through more natural means, under the care of a qualified clinician.

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