8 drugs your doctor probably wouldn't take

Morgan Lord, writing in Men's Health magazine, has a story headlined "Eight Drugs Doctors Wouldn't Take." I've taken three of them and am currently on one of them.

They are:

Advair

Avandia

Celebrex

Ketek

Prilosec and Nexium

Visine Original

Pseudoephrine

My family doctor, three physicians ago, had me on Avandia for my Type 2 Diabetes. I think I took it for a year or two. Lord writes, "Last September, a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study found that people who took rosiglitazone for at least a year increased their risk of heart failure or a heart attack by 109 percent and 42 percent, respectively, compared with those who took other oral diabetes medications or a placebo."

I have occasionally taken Pseudoephedrine-based decongestants. Lord reports, "...pseudoephedrine doesn't just constrict the blood vessels in your nose and sinuses; it can also raise blood pressure and heart rate, setting the stage for vascular catastrophe. Over the years, pseudoephedrine has been linked to heart attacks and strokes." And it can worsen symptoms of benign prostate disease and glaucoma.

And I'm currently taking a 40 milligram capsule of Nexium every day to head off acid reflux. Here's Lord's take on the Little Purple Pill and Prilosec:

Heartburn can be uncomfortable, but heart attacks can be fatal, which is why the FDA has investigated a suspected link between cardiac trouble and the acid-reflux remedies Prilosec and Nexium. In December 2007, the agency concluded that there was no "likely" connection. Translation: The scientific jury is still out. In the meantime, there are other reasons to be concerned. Because Prilosec and Nexium are proton-pump inhibitors, they are both incredibly effective at stopping acid production in the stomach — perhaps too effective. 

A lack of acid may raise your risk of pneumonia, because the same stuff that makes your chest feel as if it's burning also kills incoming bacteria and viruses. You may also have an elevated risk of bone loss — in the less acidic environment, certain forms of calcium may not be absorbed effectively during digestion. "The risk of a fracture has been estimated to be over 40 percent higher in patients who use these drugs long-term, and the risk clearly increases with duration of therapy," says Dr. Philip Rodgers, Pharm.D., a clinical associate professor at the University of North Carolina school of pharmacy.

Your new strategy: When you feel the fire, first try to extinguish it with Zantac 150 or Pepcid AC. Both of these OTC products work by blocking histamine from stimulating the stomach cells that produce acid. Just know that neither drug is a long-term fix.

So, once again, we come back to lifestyle change and weight loss as the most important thing I can do for my health. Time to lace up the hiking shoes, plug in the iPod and get my ass out the door for a good brisk walk.

You can read Morgan Lord's entire piece here.