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Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist, and Teresa Graedon is a medical anthropologist. Write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019, or at peoplespharmacy.com.
Recent Posts by Joe and Teresa Graedon
- People's Pharmacy
Some rationale for remedies
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - May 17Louis Pasteur was a 19th century microbiologist. He helped develop germ theory and invented pasteurization to keep milk from spreading disease. ...
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The mystery of the thyroid
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - May 10Is there an invisible epidemic sweeping the country? Thyroid dysfunction is one of the most common health problems in America, and no one knows ...
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Dealing with dizziness is difficult
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - May 03Doing cartwheels, riding roller coasters or spinning until they're dizzy makes children scream with delight. For older people, though, dizziness ...
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Premarin causes controversy
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Apr 19There are few drugs in modern history that have stimulated greater controversy than Premarin. Since its FDA approval in the early 1940s, more than ...
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Sleeping pills have scary effects
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Mar 29Are you dying for a good night's sleep? If you rely on sleeping pills, you might literally be putting yourself at risk of premature death. That's ...
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Speaking up can be difficult
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Mar 08There are few relationships with a greater power differential than doctor and patient. Traditionally, the doctor is perceived as having all the ...
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Barnyard beauty aids are more affordable than others
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Feb 16Americans spend billions on skin care products. Open virtually any women's magazine and you will find ads for wrinkle creams, anti-aging lotions, ...
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Birth control pills recalled
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Feb 09Women rely on their birth control pills to prevent pregnancy, and for the most part that confidence is well placed. But a manufacturing error by ...
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Pharmacy mistakes could be deadly if not caught in time
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Feb 02The modern pharmacy is big and busy. Hundreds of prescriptions are filled daily in a typical chain drugstore. Everyone is in a hurry. Pharmacists ...
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Does Tylenol put kids at risk?
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Jan 19For most of the 20th century pediatricians and parents preferred aspirin for lowering fevers and easing pain in children. But in 1980 a report ...
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Home remedy put to the test
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Jan 05Home remedies are rarely put to the test of scientific scrutiny. That's probably why physicians frequently pooh-pooh them. It's hardly surprising ...
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Hidden hazards of healthcare
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Dec 29Imagine the uproar that would occur if a new disease were discovered that killed half a million people a year. That would rival the death rate ...
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Soap in socks prevents cramps
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Dec 22When patients suffer leg cramps that wake them up at night, doctors have nothing in their black bag to offer. Long ago, doctors used to prescribe ...
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Coping with cracked fingertips
Dec 08There are some common problems that may not warrant medical treatment. Cracked fingertips are a great example. At this time of year, when the ...
- People's Pharmacy
Watch out for problem pills
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Dec 01When Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, many people might have concluded that propofol is an ...
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Withdrawal makes stopping medicine more difficult
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Nov 24When a physician hands you a prescription, you should be told how to take your pills: with meals or on an empty stomach, morning or evening, how ...
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Sweet relief for stubborn wounds
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Nov 17We first learned about orthopedic surgeon Richard Knutson in 1985. He had published a report about using sugar and povidone-iodine to "enhance ...
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As moods sour, med use soars
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Nov 10Americans take an amazing number of medications in an attempt to ease their anxiety or relieve their depression. According to our calculations, ...
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There are many causes and cures for bad breath
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Nov 03Bad breath (halitosis in doctorspeak) is not a topic for polite conversation. In fact, even your dentist or best friend may not bring up the ...
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Many medicines can cloud thinking
By Joe & Teresa Graedon - Oct 27Aging baby boomers are worried about their brain power. A report in The New England Journal of Medicine (Oct. 6, 2011) notes that three fourths of ...
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Can you be sure your drugs are safe and effective?
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Oct 20Commercials on television and ads in magazines make medications seem like magic. They are supposed to solve problems like overactive bladder, ...
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Patients lack important life-saving health information
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Oct 13People who take prescription medicine want a lot more information than they get. That's the conclusion of a new pharmacy study (Journal of the ...
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Preventing blood clots is big business in medicine
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Oct 06Warfarin is a life-saving drug that doctors love to hate. It has been widely prescribed (mostly as Coumadin) since the mid-1950s to prevent heart ...
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Washing hands saves lives and money in the long run
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Sep 29Hundreds of years ago people feared going to hospitals. These were places of last resort because they were often ill equipped and unsanitary. ...
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Researching why we get fat
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Sep 22For decades we believed the experts when they repeated the mantra: "calories in-calories out." The standard advice has always been to eat less and ...
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Do heartburn drugs deserve strong warning labels?
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Sep 15Is your heartburn drug harming you? Acid-suppressing drugs are among the most popular pills in the pharmacy. But evidence is growing that they may ...
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Shortages lead to price gouging
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Sep 08Hospital pharmacists are getting desperate. They are being forced to devote precious time to hunting down scarce supplies of critical medications. ...
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Is Lipitor safe enough to go over the counter?
By Joe & Teresa Graedon - Sep 01One of the most successful drugs in the history of the pharmaceutical industry is poised to lose its patent this November. That means cheaper ...
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Some drugs are more dangerous in hot weather
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Aug 25"Hot as hell" is a phrase we have heard a lot this summer. And with good reason. Temperatures have soared in much of the country. And it's not ...
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Summer heat and humidity make skin itch
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Aug 17Most people think of dandruff and its flakes as a winter-time problem. Cold air and central heating are thought to dry out the skin and make the ...
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Will your painkiller kill you?
By Teresa and Joe Graedon - Aug 11When ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) was initially introduced as an over-the-counter pain reliever in 1984, it was advertised as "advanced medicine ...
- People's Pharmacy
Be aware of drugs that trigger violent behavior
By Joe and Teresa Graedon - Jul 27Americans revere personal responsibility. It resonates with our respect for accountability and frontier justice. That may explain why we have a ...
