A vast majority of Americans take a prescription medication on a routine basis. According to researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center, at least 70 percent of Americans are on at least one med. At least 50 percent take at least two meds, and 1 out of every 5 Americans is hooked on five or more prescription drugs. The most commonly prescribed drugs are antibiotics, opioids, and anti-depressants. The physical and mental health of this nation looks terribly bleak.
Most people want to trust a “professional” with their health. They want someone to confide in, to look up to – someone who has the answers. They want an authority they can trust, someone they can put their faith in. With properly prescribed medications now the third leading cause of death in America, there are real questions about the medical system, questions that many like to avoid:
Are most Americans being played at the doctor’s office? Are patients being manipulated and coerced into taking one useless drug after another? Are prescribing practices based on evidence-based research at all? Are these chemical interventions contributing to greater quality of life or adding more problems to people’s lives? Is diagnostic criteria created to investigate the root cause of illness or is it leveraged to maximize drug consumption? Are medical professionals properly trained to guide patients to a healthier life or are they just used to maximize the profits of pharmaceutical companies?
Sure, a proper diagnosis can lead to a life-saving intervention. Emergency medicine and prompt surgical care can save lives. But what about the prescription drug epidemic and all the problems that stem from properly prescribed medications?
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Medical professionals are committed to an oath: First, do no harm. So why are so many people suffering? Why are so many people dependent on pharmaceutical drugs – their one life destroyed in a never-ending cycle of adverse events that beckons more physiological imbalances, stress, and complex multi-system syndromes.
Landmark study improves patient outcomes by de-prescribing pharmaceutical drugs
An intriguing study published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety sought to improve patient outcomes and quality of life through a process of de-prescribing of pharmaceutical drugs. The author of the study found that clinical guidelines in the medical system and the increasing number of specialists are fueling the problem of poly-pharmacy. Poly-pharmacy refers to the prescription of 2-11 or more medications, a dire situation that includes more than half of the American population. The author of the study found that there is a terrible lack of knowledge about the interactions between multiple drugs and how they affect patients in negative ways. The study found poly-pharmacy is getting worse because there is a lack of evidence-based medicine in America. Notwithstanding, there is social pressure to prescribe, and there are barriers and fears that keep doctors from de-prescribing.
The study sought to help elderly patients discontinue more than three of their meds. The patients were greater than sixty-six years old and were taking more than six prescriptions at the onset of the study. The researchers used a systematic approach to address poly-pharmacy. After four years, the researchers collected data on the quality of the patient’s lives. The results were stunning. After just one month, 57.4 percent of the patients’ families saw improvements in their loved ones. After applying the de-prescribing practices, 82.8 percent of the patients saw significant health improvements in just three months. After two years, sixty-eight percent of those improvements persisted. The study suggests that most medications actually keep people diseased and depressed. Unless the medication is addressing a life or death situation, getting off a medication should be a top priority for anyone who wants a more quality life experience.
Lead author, D. Garfinkel states: “All too often specialists who treat patients ‘by their book’ have but one aim, to deal with their one aspect of the disease spectrum; no in depth consideration of the ultimate effects of medications they prescribe combined with other consultant’s interventions on patients’ overall welfare.”
“The problem is further aggravated due to ‘prescription cascades’ where symptoms resulting from ADEs (adverse drug events) are perceived as representing ‘new diseases’.”
To learn more about getting off of useless meds, visit Medicine.News.
Sources include:
Greenmedinfo
NewsNetwork.MayoClinic.org
HopkinsMedicine.org
Journals.SagePub
FDA.gov