The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs 2004 : Everything You Need To Know For Safe Drug Use

The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs has been used for more than twenty-five years by informed consumers interested in obtaining full information about the medicines they take. Revised annually to help readers stay abreast of continual innovations in drug therapy, each edition continues to provide the detailed profiles of prescription drug information that families have come to expect and rely on. Each drug profile offers a great depth of information, which includes crucial facts about medical conditions and drug combinations that often require dosing adjustments. For example, if you or a family member suffers a liver or kidney ailment, you'll learn how medication dose or frequency may need to be modified to help avoid dangerous and unnecessary toxic drug reactions. Each of the more than 300 drug profiles opens with an easy-to-read informational box outlining the benefits and risks of the drug, followed by information on available dosage, forms, and strengths; examples of what the drug treats when used alone or as part of a combination drug product; the advisability of use during pregnancy or when nursing; adverse effects and common side effects; and much more.

Ongoing research helps expand and shape our understanding of how diseases happen and often leads to the development of revolutionary new medicines. In "The Leading Edge," Dr. Rybacki makes readers aware of promising new medications awaiting FDA approval, and in "True Breakthroughs," he describes novel drugs recently approved by the FDA and also details previously undiscovered new uses for older medicines. A unique feature called "Typical Treatment Goals and Measurements" explains what your doctor is usually trying to accomplish with medicines to help you and your family stay at the center of care.

Available without a prescription, an essential reference for every family

For more than twenty-five years, The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs has helped families make sense of the overwhelming and often contradictory flood of information about their prescriptions. Filled with critical health information, this fully revised and updated edition provides more detailed and comprehensive profiles on the most important drugs in current use than any other reference source. You'll find:

• The benefits and risks of each drug highlighted in quick, easy-to-read reference boxes
• How each drug works and what to do if you miss a dose
• Comprehensive safety information -- including the latest details on dangerous
• drug combinations and interactions with herbal medicines
• Special precautions to take if you're over sixty, pregnant, or breastfeeding
• Cost-saving advice for both consumers and medical professionals
• 16 pages of color photographs of common prescription drugs
• And much more!