In Healthy Older Patients Aspirin Doesn’t Help

Aspirin tablets. Photo credit: Ragesoss / Wikimedia Commons
Before we delve into this month’s news about aspirin, let’s briefly review what we think we know. Aspirin is life-saving therapy during a heart attack. In patients who have had a stroke or a heart attack in the past, daily low dose aspirin can prevent a second stroke or heart attack. Ditto in patients who have had bypass surgery or angioplasty or those who have chronic angina (chest pain caused by narrowing of coronary arteries), daily low dose aspirin prevents heart attacks in them too. ...
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What to Know Before Taking Cipro or Levaquin

Ciprofloxacin tablets. Photo credit: Wikimedia commons.
Fluoroquinolones are the third most commonly prescribed family of antibiotics in the U.S. for adults, and, in my opinion, the second most fun to say (right behind aminoglycosides). Fluoroquinolones include levofloxacin (Levaquin), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), moxifloxacin (Avelox), ofloxacin, and delafloxacin. Their popularity is well earned; they’re very effective at treating certain bacterial infections. But since their discovery in the late 1970s, increasing concern has been raised about their ...
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