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Synthroid (Levothyroxine) & Weight Gain: An Uncommon Reaction

Synthroid (Levothyroxine) is a medication commonly prescribed for the treatment of hypothyroidism, and is also a popular intervention for goiters, nodular thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer.  Administration of synthroid reverses neurophysiological irregularities associated with insufficient thyroxine (T4) and reduces concentrations of TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone).  Within several months of synthroid administration, many individuals report improvements in …

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Synthroid (Levothyroxine) & Weight Loss: A Common Experience

Synthroid (Levothyroxine) is among the most popular pharmaceutical medications in the United States; over 120 million prescriptions were filled for the drug within the past year.  It is a synthetically engineered form of thyroxine (T4), an endogenous thyroid hormone produced by follicular cells within the thyroid gland.  Among individuals diagnosed with hypothyroidism, the body is …

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Synthroid (Levothyroxine) Side Effects & Adverse Reactions

Synthroid (Levothyroxine) is a synthetic thyroid (T4) hormone commonly administered to treat hypothyroidism (or thyroid deficiency).  It was initially synthesized by British chemists Charles Robert Harington and George Barger in 1927.  As a pharmaceutical, synthroid is among the most prescribed medications in the United States, with upwards of 20 million prescriptions filled for the drug …

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Effexor (Venlafaxine) For Hot Flashes: A Non-Hormonal Therapy

Effexor (Venlafaxine) is a medication that was originally approved by the FDA in 1993 for the treatment of major depression.  Upon ingestion, Effexor functions as an SNRI (or dual-reuptake inhibitor) by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, and to a lesser extent, norepinephrine.  As a result of serotonergic and noradrenergic reuptake inhibition, concentrations of serotonin and …

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Valerian For Anxiety Disorders

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is a perennial plant named after the Latin term “valere,” which roughly translates to “strong and healthy.”  The plant is considered native to Europe and various regions of Asia and tends to bloom pinkish and/or whitish flowers in the summer seasons.  Upon blooming, its flowers are universally known to have a sweet, …

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Effexor (Venlafaxine) For Anxiety Disorders: An Effective Anxiolytic?

Effexor (Venlafaxine) is a drug that was introduced in 1993 as a pharmaceutical antidepressant by Wyeth; its marketing rights are now owned by Pfizer.  Pharmacodynamically, it functions primarily as a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) and is understood to be the first-ever “dual reuptake inhibitor” approved by the FDA for the treatment of major depressive disorder.  …

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Propranolol For Anxiety Disorders: A Nonselective Beta Blocker

Propranolol is a beta blocker originally synthesized in the 1960s by James W. Black, a British scientist.  It is a derivative of older beta-adrenergic antagonists dichloroisoprenaline and pronethalol, each of which lacked safety and efficacy to warrant medicinal usage.  Chemically, propranolol is formed upon insertion of an oxymethylene group into the aryl ethanolamine structure of …

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