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Use caution when driving, operating machinery, or performing other hazardous activities. Chlorpheniramine, hydrocodone, and phenylephrine may cause dizziness or drowsiness. If you experience dizziness or drowsiness, avoid these activities. Use alcohol cautiously. Alcohol may increase drowsiness and dizziness while taking chlorpheniramine, hydrocodone, and phenylephrine.

Chlorpheniramine, hydrocodone, and phenylephrine may increase the effects of other drugs that cause drowsiness, including antidepressants, alcohol, antihistamines, sedatives (used to treat insomnia), pain relievers, anxiety medicines, seizure medicines, and muscle relaxants. Tell your doctor about all medicines that you are taking, and do not take any other medicine without first talking to your doctor.
Hydrocodone is habit forming. It is possible become physically and/or psychologically dependent on the medication. Do not take more than the prescribed amount of medication or take it for longer than is directed by your doctor. Withdrawal effects may occur if chlorpheniramine, hydrocodone, and phenylephrine is stopped suddenly after several weeks of continuous use. Your doctor may recommend a gradual reduction in dose.

-Healthline

Take amlodipine exactly as directed by your doctor. If you do not understand these directions, ask your pharmacist, nurse, or doctor to explain them to you.

Take each dose with a full glass of water. Do not stop taking amlodipine without first talking to your doctor, even if you begin to feel better. If you stop taking the medication, your condition could become worse. Store amlodipine at room temperature away from moisture and heat.

What wets your whistle? A cold beer? A slushy margarita? A glass of red wine? At a party, a happy hour or a night by the fireplace, a drink is such a natural accompaniment that sometimes we forget about the calories we’re consuming. Big mistake: Calories from alcohol add up quickly. Our bodies don’t register liquids in terms of fullness,” says Elizabeth Somer, R.D., a nutritionist and author of The Origin Diet (Henry Holt, 2001). “The reason you gain weight from alcohol is that you don’t compensate by eating less later. You still eat the same amount, regardless of whether you had the drink.”

Remember this too: Even though the screwdriver you order at brunch has vodka and orange juice, mixed drinks provide little to no nutritional value - only calories. “Alcohol is not an essential nutrient,” says Somer. “It has a diuretic effect on the body. Even if you mix it with orange or cranberry juice, you are more likely to flush the nutrients out of your system.”

- Amy Goldhammer, Cristina Markarian

If one were to judge by television advertising and news reports, it would seem that the “war on cancer” is all but won. What are the weapons being heralded? Drugs, research, tests and exams. They miss the point.

“Prevention” is promoted as meaning catching the disease early. Really. That also misses the point. Is it “prevention” if you call 911 when you come home and see smoke billowing from all your windows? Do we just live with a carpe diem philosophy and wait for the doctor to tell us we have a lump in our breast or a swollen nodular prostate? Is the cause of cancer a lack of one of the new cancer drugs? Is the cause of cancer really unknown, requiring endless research?

First, let me put to rest the propaganda that the war is being won. Since President Nixon declared the war (1971) and after over 200 billion dollars have been spent on research (remember, one billion is a thousand million), more Americans will die of cancer in the next 14 months than have died in all U.S. wars ever fought combined! (Where are the protest marches?) Soon, cancer will overtake heart disease as the number one killer.

Decades ago, early in the war, there were some dramatic successes such as with Hodgkin’s disease and some forms of childhood leukemia. There can be little doubt that debunking (surgical removal) of large cancers brings benefits. But the big killers such as colorectal, lung, prostate and breast cancer remain as threatening as ever. Survival gains are measured primarily in additional months (not years) added to life, not in cures. The placebo effect is by and large ignored. (People getting a sugar pill placebo in cancer studies have been known to lose their hair and some actually cure themselves by simply thinking they will be cured.) A percentage of people can experience remissions spontaneously and from simple lifestyle adjustments, but the cancer therapy is always credited with the cure.

-Dr. Randy Wysong

A sinus headache, if caused by the sinuses, is more of a face ache than a true headache. The sinus passages are located under many areas of skin on the face. An infection of the sinuses may cause them to swell and therefore become painful. The sinus infection may be followed by a headache and should be treated properly.

Allergies and Sinus Headaches

Allergies and sinus infections may have similar symptoms; however, the headache is treated separately. Allergies may appear with a headache, while the Sinus headaches will often cause a fever, as the body fights the infection that is causing the sinuses swollen.

The Sinus Headache Could be a Migraine

Much debated though it is believed that 90% of self diagnosed sinus headaches are actually migraines; the issue is a hot topic of discussion amongst professionals in the medical community. Some doctors believe that the patients may not have had migraines but a Sino-nasal disease. Sino-nasal disease is a chronic condition of inflamed nasal and sinus passages that can currently only be corrected by surgery.

To the believers of the migraine theory, there has been a significant improvement in patients who began migraine treatments after proper diagnosis. It is always advisable to go for proper diagnosis before funneling to a treatment.

The doctor who preformed the study had diagnosed 90% with migraines. The patients were also sent to three other doctors, an ENT and two general practitioners. Of each of these doctors, less than 10% of the same patients were diagnosed with migraines. The best idea, who suspects sinus infection, is to consult a doctor to aver any serious consequences.

Treating a Sinus Headache

The treatment for sinus headache would also treat the other associated symptoms effectively. Decongestants and antihistamines can bring relief stuffy noses, watery eyes, and sore throats. Additionally, getting plenty of fluids, clearing nasal passages frequently, and staying well rested can also help to alleviate the discomfort associated with a sinus headache. If the headache persists, consult a doctor.

-Richard Romando

Nutrition professionals often must deal with 3 different sets of serving size standards when teaching appropriate portions to consumers. Understanding the rationale behind each may help to identify a way to use only 1 set for all nutrition education purposes. The current reevaluation of the Food Guide Pyramid offers an opportunity to work toward harmonization.

Nutrition professionals are challenged with teaching what constitutes an appropriate portion. The existence of 3 different schemes used by nutrition professionals for communicating standard serving sizes complicates this task. These serving size schemes are the Food Guide Pyramid (Pyramid) developed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), (1) the Exchange Lists for Meal Planning/Weight Management (Exchange Lists) developed by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association, (2, 3) and reference amounts customarily consumed (RACCs) for nutrition labeling of foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (4)

One step toward improving the communication of an appropriate portion is to harmonize serving size standards. Nutrition professionals could then teach appropriate portions from a single set of serving sizes. However, can serving size standards be harmonized? The answer is not straightforward, because each serving size scheme is based on a different rationale. This article describes the rationale behind the serving sizes for the Food Guide Pyramid, Exchange Lists, and RACCs and compares their standards for several foods. It also considers whether 1 set of serving sizes can be used for all nutrition education purposes.

Is it time for change in economic and development policies affecting the food industry?

The increase in the number of Americans who are obese has led to a critical questioning of the food industry’s role, as well as public policies affecting industry. Questions are being asked not only about policies relating to advertising, marketing, and promotion practices but also about broader economic and development policies under which the industry currently operates. Does the obesity problem, with its high potential for excessive human and economic social costs, require new industry policies?

A highly vocal group of consumer activists, hungry trial lawyers, and disheartened health professionals want you to believe that the cause of obesity is quite simple–deception, fraud, and unethical behavior by the food industry. They say the answer is to institute tobacco-like litigation and penalties. Sure, punish and inhibit the industry, and we will all be thin again! Although such strident claims focus our attention on the industry’s role, they also introduce a misleading simple solution.

In their missionary zeal for the quick fix, activists miss the real issue. They are being sidetracked by a few egregious issues (children’s marketing practices). The real issue is far broader, far more inclusive, and far more difficult to deal with.

-James E. Tillotson