Beyond
Walking

By Ronda Gates, MS

Ronda Gates, MS, is a pharmacy grad who traded her white coat for a pair of athletic shoes and never looked back. Her health promotion business, LIFESTYLES, provides motivational speaking, program development, and fitness assessment services to support people making a lifestyle change. She has developed health promotion programs for many organizations nationwide.
Visit www.rondagates.com for a complimentary subscription to Ronda’s weekly email newsletter.

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

— Henry David
Thoreau

Going Green: Medicine Roulette

It’s Saturday. Your day started with a brisk five-mile walk. Relaxed and energized, you returned home to tackle some end-of-season garden chores — dividing perennials, trimming roses, and digging prized dahlias. As gnawing hunger ends your tasks, the price for all that activity rears its ugly head. Your back aches. Your fingers feel like stiffened claws. Something in the air provoked your allergy. In addition to a runny nose, your arms itch from the scratches by the rose cuttings.

Once inside, you head to your medicine cabinet. You choose your favorite pain killer, add an antihistamine with decongestant for the allergies, and down them with herbal tea. After a soothing shower with aromatherapy body wash, you apply cortisone cream to the rash. As you prepare lunch — a turkey sandwich and an energy drink — you take your multi-vitamin, fish oil capsule, calcium supplement, and the low-dose aspirin you take to prevent heart attack and stroke.

An hour later you settle into your favorite chair. Your aches have diminished. Your allergies have calmed. Your arms no longer itch. You feel a little sleepy.

You probably take that feeling of relief for granted, never giving a thought to the physiological processes that enabled those pills, potions, food, and liquid to soothe your symptoms. But here’s what happened. The cortisone acted locally on the inflammation to stop a histamine reaction. The pills, vitamins, energy drink, herbal tea, and sandwich entered your stomach. Digestive juices and enzymes went to work. They dissolved the pills and transformed food solids into a solution that mixed with your tea and energy drink. Everything traveled from your stomach to your small intestine for further digestion and distribution within your body. Slowly, depending on their molecular structure, those tiny particles that were once food and medication were absorbed into the bloodstream and headed to the liver. Here they were broken down even more and returned to your bloodstream. Then, they were carried to their intended destinations: your aching muscles and irritated nasal tissues, for example. The tryptophan in the turkey triggered sleepiness. The calcium joined a complex process that helps strengthen bones.

As a former pharmacist, I think it’s good that we don’t call our doctors for advice about every little ache and pain. I’m heartened by the “green initiative” when it comes to our health: self-responsibility. But a word of caution is also advised. Herbs, for example, once banished to the attic of “used to be,” are once again powerful mainstream medications.

We often read anecdotal testimonies or hear friends rave about herbs‘ “natural remedies,” vitamins and minerals sold as “phytochemicals,” and “nutraceuticals that have changed their health.” We need to take this information with a grain of salt. Since these products are not regulated, there’s potential — especially with imported herbs and foods — for them to be altered, contaminated, pesticide-laden, or to pose other safety issues. Don’t believe everything you hear, see, or read. It’s not OK to pop over-the-counter drugs, herbal remedies, or multiple supplements like candy believing they’re safe because they don’t require a prescription. Nor is it wise to risk taking someone else’s prescription.

Pharmacists know that products that heal may have side effects that harm. We recognize that age, weight, metabolism, fitness level, method of product administration, tolerance, dose response relationships, and the complex cumulative effects of drug and food reactions are only a few of the considerations to take into account when it comes to self-care. Yes, ginger tea can keep the nausea of chemotherapy at bay. Ginko can delay age-related decline in mental function. Calcium makes bones strong. Feverfew has been shown to relieve migraines. Fish oil is recognized to improve heart health and treat depression. A glass of warm milk can calm nerves.

However, other foods, over-the-counter medications, and herbs can cause adverse reactions. Alcohol interacts with everything. Grapefruit juice interferes with the absorption of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Most over-the-counter weight loss products contain stimulants, which can harm the heart. Large amounts of green leafy vegetables high in Vitamin K can interfere with blood clotting. In short, it’s important to have a savvy pharmacist who understands drug and food interactions on your health team.

To practice self-responsibility when it comes to your health, instead of playing medication roulette, consider following these guidelines:
• Buy all prescription medications from the same pharmacy where computerized records can determine potential interactions.
• Give your pharmacist and physician a list of all over-the-counter products, supplements, and herbal remedies you take.
• Take medications as directed. Don’t stockpile them.
• Store pills and potions away from humidity and light.
• Never accept an offer from a friend to try his or her prescription drug.
• Become a savvy consumer. Don’t rely on claims that sound magical, distrust proven methods, and testimonials. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

A delicate balance exists between the assets and liabilities of making healthcare medication decisions on our own. Weigh your options, consult your primary health care provider and act responsibility. Your life depends on it.