Drug Reactions—A Major Cause of Death
Adverse drug reactions may cause the deaths of over 100, 000 US hospital patients each year, making them a leading cause of death nationwide, according to a report in the Journal of the America Medical Association.
“The incidence of serious and fatal adverse drug reactions(ADRs)in US hospitals was found to be extremely high,” say researchers at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
They carried on an analysis of 39 ADR-related studies at US hospitals over the past 30 years and defined an ADR as “any harmful, unintended, and undesired effect of a drug which occurs at doses used in humans for prevention, diagnosis, or therapy. “
An average 6.7% of all hospitalized patients experience an ADR every year, according to the researchers. They estimate that “in 1994, overall 2, 216, 000 hospitalized patients had serious ADRs, and 106, 000 had fatal ADRs.” This means that ADRs may rank as the fourth single largest cause of death in America.
And these incidence figures are probably conservative, the researchers add, since their ADR, definition did not include outcomes linked to problems in drug administration, overdoses, drug abuse, and therapeutic failures.
The control of ADRs also means spending more money. One US study estimated the overall cost of treating ADRs at up to $4 billion per year.
Dr. David Bates of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, believes that healthcare workers need to pay more attention to the problem, especially since many ADRs are easily preventable. “When a patient develops and allergy or sensitivity, it is often not recorded,” Bates notes, “and patients receive drugs to which they have known allergies or sensitivities with disturbing frequency.” He believes computerized surveillance systems—still works-in-progress at many of the nation’s hospitals—should help cut down the frequency of these types of errors.
1. Researchers at the University of Toronto believe that
A. ADRs have caused medical problems, though they seldom lead to death.
B. ADRs have very often caused patients to die in Canada.
C. ADRs have caused many deaths in America over the past 30 years.
D. it is easy to prevent ADRs from happening.
2. The investigators say that
A. 67 patients out of 100 in every America hospital die from ADRs each year.
B. 67 patients out of 100 in every American hospital experience an ADR each year.
C. 6. 7% of all hospitalized patients in American experience ADRs each year on average.
D. 6. 7% of all hospitalized patients in Canada experience ADRs each year on average.
3. An American research estimates that the total sum of money spent in treating ADRs each year is as much as
A. $ 40, 000, 000, 000.
B. $ 4, 000, 000, 000.
C. $ 400, 000, 000.
D. $ 40, 000, 000.
4. The Canadian investigators think that
A. the ADR incidence figures from their research are surely very exact.
B. the ADR incidence figures from their research are probably too high.
C. the ADR incidence figures from their research are perhaps too low.
D. None of the above is true.
5. According to Dr. David Bates, hospitals in America
A. are not paying enough attention to possibilities of ADR happenings.
B. have never tried to use computers to prevent ADRs from happening.
C. do not use those drugs which will cause side effects to their patients.
D. know that many ADRs are easily preventable.
Silent and Deadly
Transient ischemic attacks(TIAS), or mini-strokes, result from temporary interruptions of blood flow to the brain. Unlike full strokes, they present symptoms lasting anywhere from a few seconds to 24 hours. Rarely do they cause permanent neurological damage, but they are often precursors of a major stroke.
“Our message is quite clear,” says Dr. Robert Adams, professor of neurology at the Medical College of Georgia in August. “TIAS，while less severe than strokes in the short term, are quite dangerous and need a quick diagnosis and treatment as well as appropriate follow-up to prevent future injury.”
Unfortunately, mini-strokes are greatly under diagnosed. A study conducted for the National Stroke Association indicates that 2.5% of all adults aged 18 or older(about 4.9 million people in the U. S. )have experienced a confirmed TI A. An additional 1.2 million Americans over the age of 45, the study showed, have most likely suffered a mini-stroke without realizing it. These findings suggest that if the public knew how to spot the symptoms of stroke, especially mini-strokes, and sought prompt medical treatment, thousands of lives could be saved and major disability could be avoided.
The problem is that the symptoms of a mini-stroke are often subtle and passing. Nonetheless, there are signs you can look out for:
