Risky heart med now an off-label treatment for sinusitis
If you have sinus problems, you’re not alone!
According to the CDC, around 30 million Americans are plagued with chronic sinusitis.
That must have made the results of a new study on treating the condition very exciting for Big Pharma — but a very big danger for anyone who may be prescribed the “latest” way to help them breathe easier.
Would you risk taking a drug that has been found to cause an abnormal heartbeat, double your risk of breast cancer and up your chance of suffering a first heart attack by around 60 percent — all to treat a sinus condition?
I didn’t think so!
But a group of researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital are doing their best to convince doctors that using a blood-pressure drug called verapamil may be the magic potion sinus sufferers have been waiting for.
The study was a small one, with only 18 patients. But when you’re talking about “off-label” prescribing, it doesn’t take a whole lot to get doctors jumping aboard the bandwagon.
Plus that, along with being prescribed to treat high blood pressure and certain heart problems, verapamil is already being zipped off Rx pads (also off-label) for conditions such as cluster headaches, migraines and vertigo.
Off-label prescribing — a giant loophole that allows doctors to prescribe any FDA-approved drug for any condition at all — has become practically epidemic.
And while we all know that plenty of drugs given the okay by the FDA are dangerous, even when used to treat the conditions they’ve been approved for, going off-label is an even bigger lab experiment. And it’s one that most patients never even realize they’ve been enrolled in.
Which is why even though this recent study with verapamil was small, the consequences may be enormous. With glowing reports from the likes of a Dr. Benjamin Bleier, a sinus surgeon who headed the study, docs could start using the drug to treat sinus problems tomorrow if they wanted to. Seriously, there’s nothing to stop them.
Verapamil is in a class of meds known as calcium channel blockers, which are controversial even for their approved use — treating high blood pressure. Back 22 years ago, the consumer group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to put a black-box warning on these meds alerting patients about how they can significantly up the risk of having a fatal heart attack.
CCB drugs were also found in a study published in JAMA four years ago to more than double the risk of breast cancer. And British researchers discovered ten years ago that verapamil can cause your heart to beat abnormally.
So, if you’re one of the millions with chronic sinus problems, there are some tried and true ways to help — ways that won’t put you at risk for a heart attack, cancer or anything else that might be found to result from taking verapamil.
For example:
- Bromelain, a supplement derived from pineapple enzymes, is approved by the German Commission E (the German equivalent of the FDA) to reduce sinus swelling and inflammation. It can also help by reducing nasal mucus. (Since it can thin the blood, however, you shouldn’t take bromelain if you’re on an Rx blood thinner).
- Use a neti pot daily to flush out your sinuses with warm salt water. Many doctors call sinus irrigation a front-line approach to treating sinus problems. It also thins nasal mucus and helps you breathe better.
- If you enjoy spicy foods, they can really help open you sinuses. Horseradish is especially good for that purpose, and as an added bonus was found in a study last year to be an extremely potent cancer fighter, even ten times more powerful than broccoli!
And remember, most sinus infections are viral — meaning that taking an antibiotic not only won’t do a thing to help, but can actually hurt. Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are the result of this kind of unnecessary antibiotic use in both people and animals.
