Examining the Damage of Prescription Drugs
Each town in America has seen its share of drug problems, like any other part of the country, but while many people consider drugs like meth, cocaine or heroin to be the biggest problem, the silent epidemic of prescription drugs has settled in.
Many people are under the assumption that if it comes from a doctor that it automatically must be safer than street drugs.
However, the drug-related emergency room visits and fatalities are now favoring the prescription side throughout the United States.
One of the reasons is of course the belief that pills in a bottle are less dangerous, but also the pharmaceutical marketing campaigns and prescription-happy medical community have as much shared responsibility as do the perceptions of consumers.
Just one indicator is the fact that state and federal budgets for public assistance programs, such as Medicaid, have been heavily burdened by the cost of prescription drugs.
The pharmaceutical industry has spent over $200 million each of the last four years in lobbying efforts, which is more than any other industry, and it's hard to watch television or read a magazine without being exposed to ads for the latest drugs.
The top revenue-producing drugs in America have become antipsychotics, due to these marketing and lobbying efforts, the number of prescriptions given and the high prices of these medications.
With total prescription drug sales topping $300 billion in 2010, it seems their formula for profit seems to be working for them.
Not to paint them all as bad, that's not the intention here.
There are many wonderful life-saving products and sometimes drugs are necessary in situations.
The difference is that they are being heavily over-prescribed and we're all feeling the effects from them, whether we know it or not.
The most abused prescription drugs today are narcotic painkillers that contain some variations of hydrocodone or oxycodone.
Drugs in this category can include Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin, and many others.
Not surprisingly, they are also the most commonly prescribed drugs in America.
The direct connection is not a coincidence.
Other highly-abused prescription drugs include anti-anxiety medications (Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, etc.
), stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine) and sleeping pills (Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, etc.
).
Adderall is a great example of a drug that is causing a lot of damage.
People often mistake it as being something closer to a "stronger caffeine"-type pill, but it is an amphetamine.
College campuses are prime targets for students abusing this drug to stay up and study (or party, or as an appetite suppressant, or...
), and then its misuse often leads to more substance abuse.
In fact, one recent national survey found that close to 90 percent of full-time college students who had abused Adderall in the past year were also considered to be binge drinkers, with about 50 percent of them considered to be heavy drinkers.
In addition, those students were three times more likely to use marijuana, five times more likely to abuse narcotic painkillers and also eight times more likely to use cocaine and tranquilizers.
I think most people rely on their doctors' advice, and of course the doctors mean well and most genuinely want the best for their patients, but western medicine appears to have become more synonymous with "prescription" than with overall health.
As patients and consumers, we should be afforded all of the information before making a decision, including what healthier, non-prescription treatments might be available for addressing our symptoms and those of our children.
Being more conscious about our food intake, exercise and other habits in life is one step in the direction to better physical and mental health.
Looking for more natural remedies that enhance our bodies rather than damage them can go a long way to improving our society, reducing substance abuse and related healthcare costs.
For those people who become dependent on prescription drugs, there is a growing trend of addiction recovery programs that are using holistic therapies as well.
The toll on our society has been too great to keep going in the direction we have been where the first thought is to take a pill if we have a problem.
It is possible to shift our thinking patterns in this direction and have drugs become the alternative treatments rather than the primary ones.
Many people are under the assumption that if it comes from a doctor that it automatically must be safer than street drugs.
However, the drug-related emergency room visits and fatalities are now favoring the prescription side throughout the United States.
One of the reasons is of course the belief that pills in a bottle are less dangerous, but also the pharmaceutical marketing campaigns and prescription-happy medical community have as much shared responsibility as do the perceptions of consumers.
Just one indicator is the fact that state and federal budgets for public assistance programs, such as Medicaid, have been heavily burdened by the cost of prescription drugs.
The pharmaceutical industry has spent over $200 million each of the last four years in lobbying efforts, which is more than any other industry, and it's hard to watch television or read a magazine without being exposed to ads for the latest drugs.
The top revenue-producing drugs in America have become antipsychotics, due to these marketing and lobbying efforts, the number of prescriptions given and the high prices of these medications.
With total prescription drug sales topping $300 billion in 2010, it seems their formula for profit seems to be working for them.
Not to paint them all as bad, that's not the intention here.
There are many wonderful life-saving products and sometimes drugs are necessary in situations.
The difference is that they are being heavily over-prescribed and we're all feeling the effects from them, whether we know it or not.
The most abused prescription drugs today are narcotic painkillers that contain some variations of hydrocodone or oxycodone.
Drugs in this category can include Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin, and many others.
Not surprisingly, they are also the most commonly prescribed drugs in America.
The direct connection is not a coincidence.
Other highly-abused prescription drugs include anti-anxiety medications (Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, etc.
), stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, Dexedrine) and sleeping pills (Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, etc.
).
Adderall is a great example of a drug that is causing a lot of damage.
People often mistake it as being something closer to a "stronger caffeine"-type pill, but it is an amphetamine.
College campuses are prime targets for students abusing this drug to stay up and study (or party, or as an appetite suppressant, or...
), and then its misuse often leads to more substance abuse.
In fact, one recent national survey found that close to 90 percent of full-time college students who had abused Adderall in the past year were also considered to be binge drinkers, with about 50 percent of them considered to be heavy drinkers.
In addition, those students were three times more likely to use marijuana, five times more likely to abuse narcotic painkillers and also eight times more likely to use cocaine and tranquilizers.
I think most people rely on their doctors' advice, and of course the doctors mean well and most genuinely want the best for their patients, but western medicine appears to have become more synonymous with "prescription" than with overall health.
As patients and consumers, we should be afforded all of the information before making a decision, including what healthier, non-prescription treatments might be available for addressing our symptoms and those of our children.
Being more conscious about our food intake, exercise and other habits in life is one step in the direction to better physical and mental health.
Looking for more natural remedies that enhance our bodies rather than damage them can go a long way to improving our society, reducing substance abuse and related healthcare costs.
For those people who become dependent on prescription drugs, there is a growing trend of addiction recovery programs that are using holistic therapies as well.
The toll on our society has been too great to keep going in the direction we have been where the first thought is to take a pill if we have a problem.
It is possible to shift our thinking patterns in this direction and have drugs become the alternative treatments rather than the primary ones.
