What happens to meds that get recycled?; new warnings about testosterone supplements
Q: There's a big push in my community to take old, unused meds to a designated pharmacy or police station for disposal. But what do they do with them? Is it any better than throwing them in the trash at home or flushing them down the toilet? - Jillian F., Vancouver, Washington
A: There's been a lot of concern lately about medications turning up in inland waterways, local water supplies, even the ocean! The pollution comes from the pharmaceutical waste we put through sewage treatment plants that usually doesn't get filtered out and goes back into rivers. That includes meds that were flushed down the toilet (including your pet's meds), plus traces of medications you're taking that are found in your urine and stool. Some pharmaceutical pollution even comes from landfills.
As early as 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey found one or more medications in 80 percent of water samples from 139 streams in 30 states. The drugs included antibiotics, antidepressants, blood thinners, ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers, digoxin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and painkillers. More recent samples have shown evidence of everything from caffeine and chemicals in fragrances, to antiseizure and anticholesterol meds. And it's affecting the coastal ocean water as well.
Exposure to even a small amount of estrogen can make male fish produce eggs and damage female fish's reproductive processes, devastating a population. Diluted solutions of psychiatric drugs have been found to alter fish behavior.
So bravo for your community's efforts. When you leave old meds (even ordinary over-the-counter stuff like cough meds and topical creams for sore muscles) at a "take back your meds" facility, they're transported to a collection site and then sent on to a high-temperature incinerator. These incinerators are made up of a primary combustion chamber and an afterburner connected to an air pollution control system, all of which are controlled and monitored.
You can find a drop-off spot at a pharmacy or police station near you by googling "DEA Authorized Collector Location."
Q: My husband is taking prescription testosterone supplements, and he says they make him feel much better. But new labeling will contain warnings about the risk of heart attack and personality changes! Should he stop taking them? - Francine G., Philadelphia
A: The Food and Drug Administration makes it clear that prescription testosterone supplements are approved for use only in men who have low testosterone levels, along with an associated medical condition. That includes those who need the supplements because of pituitary disease, chemotherapy or genetic conditions. Also, about 20 percent of men over 60 have diagnosable low testosterone. According to the Urology Care Foundation, a division of the American Urological Association, that often is associated with the following conditions:
High blood pressure - About 40 out of 100 men with HBP also have low testosterone.
High cholesterol - About 40 out of 100 also have low testosterone.
Diabetes - About 50 out of 100 also have low testosterone.
Overweight - About 50 out of 100 also have low testosterone.
For these guys, taking testosterone supplements may restore energy, muscle tone and sexual function and interest. But an untold number (red flag here!) use the hormone supplement for muscle building or in doses higher than recommended. It's the health hazards associated with those behaviors that prompted recent FDA labeling changes. They'll now include safety information about the risks from abuse of and dependence on testosterone and other anabolic androgenic steroids. Those who take too much, and especially those who combine testosterone supplements with other anabolic androgenic steroids, says the FDA, are at serious risk for "heart attack, heart failure, stroke, depression, hostility, aggression, liver toxicity and male infertility. Individuals abusing high doses of testosterone have also reported withdrawal symptoms, such as depression, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, decreased libido and insomnia."
So, Francine, depending on why your husband is taking the supplement and how much he's taking, it may be a really bad idea or just what the doctor ordered.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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