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熱門話題
藥
物利弊
譚志文
（內科主任醫生）
Tam Zhi Man
WHY DRUG ADVERSITIES
ARE SAID TO BE AKIN TO
TIGERS?
Madame Liu had a flu and
took 4 times the dose of a flu
med i c i ne; she d i ed f rom
intoxication. A writer was pre-
scribed Longdanxiegan pills for
her symptoms due to chronic
insomnia. It worked so well that
she continued to take those but
after 6 months, she had swollen
legs from kidney failure - an in-
gredient of Longdanxiegan pills
was guan mu tong containing
aristolochic acid that is kidney
toxic; may even cause cancers.
Antibiotics have the most fre-
quent adverse reactions, fol-
lowed by pain killers, then tradi-
tional Chinese medicines (TCM).
In China, 2.5 million use drugs
wrongly; almost 20,000 died a
year, mainly due to: (1) Doctors'
wrong diagnoses (2) Patients'
own decision for alteration, e.g.,
Mdm Liu above (3) Laymen use
antibiotics for headache, fever,
diarrhoea, etc. - often caused just
by viruses that antibiotics do not
work; resistant strains of bacte-
ria results (4) Follow advertise-
ments and blindly use new or
imported or expensive drugs, e.
g., healthcare medicine mas-
querading as cancer cures (5)
Liberal use of TCM, 243 of which
are toxic. Even excessive
Panadol is liver toxic, especially
if taken with alcoholic drinks. If in
doubt, ask your doctor.
為什麼說藥害猛如虎？
藥物能治病，也能致病。社會現實證明，藥害猛如虎，
奪走生命是常事兒，萬不可粗心大意！否則，後果不堪設
想，所以我們對待它不得不慎之又慎。據報載，哈爾濱香電
街的劉大娘突然流鼻涕、打噴嚏、渾身冷，知道自己患了感
冒，便找出一盒治感冒的西藥，看過說明書以後，覺得一次
一粒的劑量太小，自己是首次服藥應該加倍，就一口吞下 4
粒。半小時以後，劉大娘覺得噁心迷糊、頭暈目眩，想打電
話找人，手腳已經不好使了。家人回來發現，趕緊送到醫院
搶救。經醫院檢查，劉大娘是藥物中毒、神經系統麻痹，由
於發現時間較晚，加之搶救不及時，老太太一命嗚呼⋯⋯
不是唯一受害者
劉大娘不是藥物中毒的唯一受害者。 一位小有名氣的作家，
因為職業習慣，經常起早貪黑，生物鐘較亂，常出現“上火”等不
適症狀。到某中醫院去看，也查不出什麼毛病，就是亞健康狀
態。醫生建議服用“龍膽瀉肝丸”。據瞭解，“龍膽瀉肝丸”主要功效
是清肝利膽利濕熱，對頭暈目赤、耳鳴耳聾、耳部疼痛、尿赤澀
痛、濕熱帶下等症狀有療效。吃了以後，果然有效，上火等症狀
明顯好轉。這以後，他只要身體不適，就服用這種中藥。然而，
惡夢開始了，半年多以後，他感覺頭暈、發熱、渾身無力，越吃
那“龍膽瀉肝丸”越重，到最後兩條腿都腫起來了，他嚇壞了，到
大醫院一檢查，被確診為腎功能衰竭，繼而發展為尿毒症！必須
依靠血液透析才能維持生命！
