One quarter (25%) of those over 65 living in the U.S. will fall this year. My client’s results could’ve been far worse; every 19 minutes a senior dies as the result of a fall. The vast majority of the time, medications are a major contributing factor.

Loss of balance, blood pressure and blood sugar issues are just 3 reasons why seniors have increased tendency to fall. Medications play an integral role.

Medications to control blood pressure and blood sugar keep those parameters within very narrow ranges that may not allow the body to respond appropriately to the situation at hand such as what happened to my client. Addressing these issues through diet & lifestyle changes can frequently allow one to work with their doctor to decrease or eliminate the meds altogether. Thus eliminating a major contributor to falls. I can offer assistance and coaching for this.

But blood pressure and blood sugar meds are only a very small fraction of drugs that affect seniors adversely. Most affect balance and mental clarity more directly and can contribute to both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The problem is so pervasive that there are well-written & documented criteria for evaluating the appropriateness of medication in seniors and getting them on less dangerous drugs, if your doctor uses them.

The Beers’ Criteria is not about alcohol-containing drinks made from hops! Dr. Beers was a gerontologist who put together an extensive list of drugs known to contribute to problems in the elderly. The list involves entire classes of drugs that can be problematic in the elderly. Reasons can go far beyond balance and mental clarity issues (some drugs cannot be metabolized as readily due to impairment in kidney function, for example, that can be quite common in older people.) However, many classes of drugs are on the list primarily because of balance issues. Many also contribute to dementia.

Are you taking sleeping pills? Most are on the list. Sedating anti-histamines, like Benadryl? On the list. (many people take these before bed thinking they are safer than sleeping pills.) What about anti-anxiety meds, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics or PM versions of over-the-counter pain relievers? Also on the list. Drug to address asthma, nerve pain (especially shingles), over-active bladder, diarrhea, nausea and itching; again; on the list. All these drugs affect balance, sometimes for days after the effect of the medication has worn off. Many also affect mental clarity and contribute to dementia & Alzheimer’s.

In addition to this list; there is also another set of criteria that is more in depth called the STOPP/START criteria. STOPP is: Screening Tool for Older People’s Potentially inappropriate meds. START is Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatments. The ‘right treatments’ here are safer drug choices; not lifestyle changes. Again, many conditions can be addressed through diet and lifestyle changes thus allowing people to get off the medication and frequently reversing the condition.

Were I someone that was on ANY medication (OTC or prescription) I would check in with my doctor to find out (1) Do any of my meds appear on the list? (2) If so, is there a safer medication we can look at instead? You might also decide to make lifestyle and diet changes that could result in you no longer needing medication. Again; I’m available to help teach you about such options.

Note: The above is intended only as education. It is not to be misconstrued as medical recommendations. Always check with a medical practitioner before stopping your medication.

The post It’s a Balancing Act: A Quick Primer on Drugs & Falls for the Over-55 Gang appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

It happened again this week. Some news came across my desk about new black box warnings on another drug. It seems that this new rock star of a drug for gout (a condition easily corrected by diet) can cause sudden cardiac death! But does the FDA pull it off the market? NO! They put a black box warning on that your doctor is likely unaware of and life goes on. Cha-ching! Cha-Ching! (That’s the sound of money going into the drug company coffers.)

Then today, something else came across my desk. It was information for physicians on the same drug. Seems this drug can also cause anaphylactic reactions (life-threatening shock) . Further, one of the most common untoward reactions of this drug is an INCREASE in acute flareups of gout! Cha-ching! Cha-Ching!

Yes, get this straight: the new block-buster drug can cause acute flareups of the very thing you are using it to treat! (most people START on such drugs BECAUSE of an acute flareup!)

Oh & BTW, it also said the “most common adverse reactions” are “gout flareups, . . . chest pain, anaphylaxis. . .”(and 7 other slightly less disturbing symptoms). Cha-ching! Cha-Ching! (Ok. That’s the last time. . .it’s probably getting old.)

But you don’t have gout so why should this matter to you?

Simple: according to a study I pulled up; the FDA issued over 100 black box warnings between 2008 and 2015. That’s more than 1 per month. Your doctor can’t possibly keep abreast of this, along with everything else, no matter how hard they try.

It’s stuff like this makes me passionate about the work I do educating people so they can get off medication and usually live a healthier and longer life as a ‘side effect’ of lifestyle changes.

But it’s not just about diet and exercise. It’s also about becoming an informed medical consumer so you don’t become an unwitting victim of stuff like this.

You see, sooner or later, all of us will need to make decisions about which tests to have (or not have), which procedures to consent to or not and what medications to take or allow a loved one to.

Most will listen to their doctor or a trusted friend.

I’d like to suggest a different way.

That’s why “Empowering Your Health & Choices: Food Over Medicine” (my program that begins April 2^nd) spends a significant amount of time helping you understand the potential hazards of tests and procedures and the stats associated with them so you can start to make informed choices.

Think of it this way: you wouldn’t sign a mortgage contract without understanding how much money the loan will cost you monthly for how many years. Yet we don’t typically ask for similar data on the procedure we are about to have on our own body!

Some procedures, for example PAP smears DO have good supportive data & we discuss this as well. Others, when you see the data, will give cause to pause and reconsider.

Last week, in my blog, I talked a little about cardiac procedures. One study I reviewed found that 94% of people that had a cardiac procedure had to have another one over a 30 year time span. If you’re a 45 year old having a stint put in; don’t you think you have a right to know that? Don’t you also have a right to know that statistically, you’ll probably need another stint within 10 years unless you drastically change your diet?!

Now, understand, I’m NOT saying you shouldn’t have procedure X, Y or Z. I’m saying you should understand the full gravity of what your about to do and find out if there are safer things you could do that have good outcomes attached to those as well. Then, you can make a more informed choice.

I hope to see you there. Your life or the life of someone you love really COULD be saved by getting this information.

The program will be held over 5 sessions on Tuesdays & Thursdays April 2-16, 2019 at 6:30-8pm in Morro Bay. You can register here:    or set up a free consult here   to learn more.

The post More Black Box Warnings . . .and life goes on appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.

But my reason for this article has more to do with overall dangers and alternatives than the individual drugs.

Also in the statement was the acknowledgement that current labeling which warns of increased of heart attack and stroke after 10 days on the medication is inadequate and needs to be revised. At least one recently published study indicates danger (stroke or deadly heart attack) can occur in as little as 7 days. In fact, a closer look shows us that studies in late 1990’s estimated NSAIDs caused about 107,000 hospitalizations and 16,500 deaths yearly in the US and the use of these drugs has increased exponentially since that time. Circulatory events (stoke or heart attack) and gastrointestinal bleeding are the most common causes of hospitalizations and death.

One problem I find with the medical approach is that they insist they must know why and how something happens and this tends to minimize its affect in the public’s eye. Here’s what I mean: understanding physiology on a holistic level, I can come up with a number of plausible reasons, but maybe not the exact mechanism for how these drugs can cause a heart attack. In the meantime, they wring their hands because they don’t know exactly how it happens. Human nature is such that we tend to ignore what we don’t understand or can’t explain. Thus, the doctor can’t explain the danger to the patient OR understand it exactly in his/her own mind and still writes the prescription. The patient, while being aware that all drugs carry risks, figures if the doctor has prescribed it, the benefit must outweigh the risk. Some of these patients are tripling the likelihood that they will die of a heart attack and they are completely unaware of it.

In the meantime, natural approaches, while they may not work as quickly, do work, are safer and actually have a byproduct of producing health! One could start with an alkaline, anti-inflammatory diet and the elimination of GMO foods and foods the person may be sensitive to.  The addition of whole food anti-oxidants, specific enzymes like Bromelain (which is anti-inflammatory), specific herbs like turmeric,  boswellia or others, live cultured vegetables and more can give the right balance for pain reduction. Add to that gentle exercise, weight reduction when appropriate and Acupuncture and/or Chiropractic care to help tune the body’s innate response, some detox if appropriate and other mechanism and you have a health creation plan rather than a symptom-based drug treatment.

This is generalized example of the kind of step-by-step approach and guidance you can get through health coaching and consulting with me. Such care is not medical advice or medical care and it doesn’t take the place of it. What it does do is give you the step-by-step guidance, knowledge and motivational tips that your doctor or other provider doesn’t have the structure to provide.

Please pass this on to anyone you know that might benefit from it.

The post NSAID Dangers in the News AGAIN! appeared first on Dr Leslie K. Empowered Wellness.