Posted 10/31/2016 1:10 PM (GMT 0)
I was personally rather surprised at this figure being so high. I don't know why, but if I had been asked to guess, I think I would have said maybe 20-25 percent. But no, according to the Washington Post article below, it's actually about 60 percent of us taking at least one prescription drug nowadays.
From the article:
"One likely factor driving the increased use: obesity."
"… eight of the 10 most commonly used drugs in the United States are for hypertension, heart failure, diabetes and other elements of the “cardiometabolic syndrome.”
"The country’s aging population would seem to be one obvious explanation … yet after researchers adjusted for age, the trends toward increased prescription use held true."
"The most commonly used individual drug in 2011-2012 was simvastatin, which is taken by roughly 8 percent of U.S. adults."
"The CDC cited numerous factors potentially contributing to the trend, including the growth of third-party insurance and increased drug-marketing to doctors and directly to consumers."
"… (the increase) also had contributed to serious problems such as the over-prescribing of antibiotics and the ongoing overuse and abuse of prescription painkillers."
This last paragraph may be the most concerning of all. Especially the implication in it that disease organisms may be developing immunities due to overuse of existing antibiotics, possibly faster than drug companies can develop new drugs to fight them.
Serious stuff.
(You will need to copy-and-paste the following to your browser, as I can't get the link to work):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/11/03/more-americans-than-ever-are-taking-prescription-drugs/