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According to a September 3, 2010 report by the CDC on WebMD, Prescription Drug Use on the Rise in U.S. and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Here’s my edited version of that article with the reference url below.

This is the awful truth:

1. “The percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug rose from 43.5% in 1999-2000 to 48.3% in the 2007-2008 period.

2. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25.4% to 31.2% over the same decade, and the use of five or more prescription medications jumped from 6.3% to 10.7%.

In the 2007-2008 period:
• One of every five children and nine out of 10 older Americans reported using at least one prescription drug in the month prior to being surveyed.
• 22.4% of kids up to age 11 used at least one prescription drug.
• 29.9% of young people 12-19 used at least one prescription drug.
• 48.3% of people between 20 and 59 used at least one prescription medication.
• 88.4% of Americans age 60 and over used at least one prescription drug, more than 76% used two or more prescription drugs in the past month, and 37% used five or more.

Prescription drug use increased with age; women are more likely to use such medications than men, 53.3% to 43.2%, and the non-Hispanic white population had the highest prescription drug use at 54.3%, compared to 42% of black non-Hispanics and 33.9% of Mexican-Americans.

The CDC also says that:
• People with a regular place for health care were 2.7 times as likely to have used prescription drugs in the past month compared to those without the benefit.
• People with health insurance were about twice as likely to have used at least one prescription medication in the past month as those without health insurance.
• People with prescription drug benefits in their health insurance plans were 22% more likely to use prescription medications than those who did not have that benefit.

According to the 2007-2008 data, the most commonly used drugs were:
• Among kids under age 6, penicillin antibiotics were the most frequently used prescription drugs.
• Bronchodilators for children up to age 11.
• Central nervous system stimulants (like Ritilin) for youths 12-19.
• Antidepressants for people 20-59.
• Cholesterol-lowering drugs for adults 60 and older.
• The report says diuretics and beta-blockers were commonly used in adults and older Americans.

Do you get the irony that people who have a doctor and health insurance aren’t healthier, they just take more drugs? When I went to medical school over 30 years ago, drugs were for short term use only; they weren’t meant to be taken as preventives.

Do you now see why I want every one of you to join Future Health Now! so you can learn to stay healthy? A $1,000 a month health insurance policy may help you if you need hospitalization but it’s my $10.00 a month Future Health Now! program that can keep you from getting sick.

http://www.webmd.com/news/20100902/prescription-drug-use-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s

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