What does “fatal liver disease” mean on a TV commercial on a certain medication?
On a TV Commercial, when they advertise about a certain drug and its side effect being one of them as “fatal liver disease”, does it mean, you’ll die from liver cancer or scirrosis?
Then, why take the drug? Then, why did my doctor prescribe it?
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July 4, 2009
what Does “fatal Liver Disease” Mean On A Tv Commercial On A Certain Medication?
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Most all medications, after they enter the body,
go to the liver first to be broken down before
going to the rest of the body. The liver
is a wonderful organ that can take toxins and
change them into non toxic forms, also.
All medications have side effects and warning
on them. The patient doesn’t always see
these warnings, that the druggist is given, as
an insert on these medications…if they did,
they would never take any of them. The
doctor has to decide if the benefits of
taking the medication outweighs the risk.
The doctor also knows the patients medical
background and if their body chemistry is
okay to handle the drugs. It is best that
any medications a patient takes is cleared
through the doctor first; this includes over
the counter, herbs, herbal teas, vitamins,
and minerals, etc. Many drugs can interact
with other drugs including prescription drugs.
Some drugs are harder on the liver than other
ones are (therefore they contain these warnings).
If a drug is taken in excess of the prescribed
amount or taken with something like
alcohol or grapefruit juice…it can cause the
drug to go toxic in the body and then cause
damage to the liver cells. Once the liver
cells become damaged, then the patients
immune system responds to the damage in
the body and causes inflammation to develop
in the liver. Normally, this inflammation is
to help the body stop any bacteria, virus,
or other foreign things that enter the body from
reaching other areas of the body. However,
now the inflammation is inside the capsule of
the liver and causes the liver to enlarge in
size. Once this happens the cells of the liver
can become so stressed that they start to
die off. When they do this, the dead cells
cause scar tissue to develop in the liver and
then it turns into a progressive disease known
as Cirrhosis of the liver. This is what they
mean by fatal liver disease. The public
is becoming more aware of the dangers that
are involved in taking these medications,
but also it is scaring them.
The drugs companies do extensive research
and testing on all drugs on the market. That
is what puts the costs of the drug up so high.
It may take years to develop the drug and
then do all of this before it is even approved
for public use. They have to list all their findings, even if it is just one patients reaction
out of thousands that has taken the drug.
As long as your doctor is prescribing the
medication or recommending this medication,
it should be okay for you to take. You can
even ask him about side effects or even
talk to the druggist about the medication you
are on. The pharmacies have on their
computers a system that show if one drug
interacts with another…they even give patients
printouts to read about each drug they take.
So many people don’t read these print outs
but they should. It is almost impossible to
cover every side effect a patient may have in
the doctors office.
Fatal does mean that it could lead to death,
since the liver isn’t an organ, like the spleen
or gallbladder is…where you can remove it
and still live.
I hope this information is of some help to you.
Comment by abijann — July 4, 2009 @ 5:38 am
All medication has some level of risk. Your doctor assesses if the very small risk is less than the danger of not taking the medicine, they will prescribe it for you. But only a doctor can assess the risk and benefit, so that is why many medicines are not available over the counter, only on prescription
Comment by Kim B — July 4, 2009 @ 10:32 am