Medicated to Death

Medicated to DEATH Americans are increasingly prescribed medications that help them get more sleep, feel less stress and have more energy to accomplish a seemingly endless list of daily tasks. But is this really a good thing? Let's take a look at how overmedication can be affecting our health. State of Health How much medication are we taking, and why? 111 Nearly 7 in 10 1 in 5 Americans who take at least People who take five or more one prescription drug prescriptions 100 million Americans affected by chronic pain? - 1,000,000 1 in 4 American adults who are unhappy with their sleep 4 in 5 Americans prescribed antibiotics each year 6 patterns 4 80 60 million Proportion of the world's painkillers Prescriptions Americans filled for sleeping pills in 2011, up from 47 million in 2006 5 consumed in the United States 3 The Risks of Overmedication 40% 2 million People who become addicted to benzodiazepines (like some sleeping pills or anxiety medication) after taking them daily for more than 6 weeks Annual number of drug-resistant bacterial infections in the US, 8 Every 19 minutes, a person dies from prescription drug overdose Causes of Overmedication? Every patient is different, but some common themes emerge in considering potential overmedication: Rapidly aging population, which means more people Cost of expensive testing vs. prescription costs Increase in chronic conditions, like heart disease and diabetes need to take medications SOURCES 1. http://www.drugfree.org 2. http://www.painmed.org 3. http://www.cnn.com 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com 5. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com 6. http://www.cbsnews.com 7. http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk 8. http://www.cdc.gov toprntobsn.com