A few years ago, we received a
microwave popcorn popper as a door prize at an annual meeting. The first time
we tried to pop corn, the top melted and the popcorn was charred. Since it didn’t
work, I prepared to dump it in the trash.
“Keep it,” my husband, the farmer,
said. “We might be able to use it for something else.” I threw away the melted
lid and kept the bottom part, against my better judgment. I saw the plastic
bowl with a handle as a waste of space. Even as a popcorn popper, I didn’t see
much use for it since I can’t eat popcorn.
Oddly enough, we use the plastic
bowl almost daily for scraps and vegetable peelings. When we start preparing a
meal, one of us will say, “I need the plastic bowl.” Although not its intended
use, it is our most used kitchen container.
Every Memorial Day, I search for a
plastic vase to take fresh flowers to the Veterans Cemetery. For the unaware,
it is practically impossible to find a plastic vase. My husband came up with
the idea of cutting the top off a Simply Apple juice bottle and wrapping it in
patriotic duck tape. Not its intended use, but it works.
Sometimes medication can be used for
a different purpose, called off-label use. It takes years to develop and test
medication, but when a drug can be used for more than one condition, it
dramatically shortens the time to get the drug to consumers.
One of the off-label uses for the Alzheimer’s drug Memantine (Nameda) is for it
to be added to the standard therapy used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder
(OCD) and attention deficit order (ADHD).
Antipsychotic drugs are often used
off label to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. One of the common drugs used is
Seroquel. Another off label use for Seroquel is for Insomnia.
I believe more caution should be
used in prescribing antipsychotic drugs to people with Alzheimer’s. Jim had
some serious reactions to them. Seroquel was commonly prescribed to residents
in the Alzheimer’s unit. They tried it on Jim and instead of calming him, it
made him hyperactive. Other psychotic drugs caused him to be angry and out of
control. One even caused so much foam coming out of his mouth that he couldn’t
eat or drink. The physicians treating him swore they had never seen that
reaction before.
Although commonly used in people
with dementia, antipsychotics increase the risk of death and decrease the
quality of life. While looking for a home for Jim, I visited one home where the
Alzheimer’s residents appeared to be in a stupor. I thought it odd at the time,
but after seeing how antipsychotic drugs affect most people with dementia, I’m
sure they were overmedicated.
Not all drugs used off-label are
bad. Many years go into the development of prescription drugs and off-label use
of an approved drug can bring relief to a patient, or even be life-saving. For
example, some cancer drugs are approved for one type of cancer, but may
successfully treat a different type. Chemotherapy treatments are often a
combination of drugs that fight more than one type of cancer.
Sometimes, veering from the intended
purpose can be successful, and sometimes it can create problems. Antipsychotic
drugs for people with dementia can be life-threatening and more harmful than
helpful. Using a popcorn popper for a receptacle for scraps is handy and safe—in
fact, safer than using it in the microwave!
Copyright © July 2019 by L.S. Fisher
#ENDALZ
No comments:
Post a Comment