Prescription Meds – Generally A Risk Verses Reward Equation

A growing number of people in recent years have had to make a trip to the emergency room or medical clinic with symptom like headache, nausea, dizziness, and chest pains only to find out after a series of exhausting and pricey tests that the root cause of their symptoms was unforeseen side effects from a newly prescribed prescription medication. In fact, side effects of drugs send almost 5 million American scrambling to find a late night clinic, doctors office, or emergency ward each year.

Believe it or not this is a greater number than for common conditions such as pneumonia or strep throat according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

I think all of us forget that prescription medications are drugs designed to force the body to change which generally produces a chain reaction of occurrences resulting in what are experienced as side effects. This is a stark contrast to many natural forms of medicine which work with your body to create an outcome.

But while we tend to concentrate on the major side effect risks there may be a bigger problem, experts say. According to Donald W. Light, a medical sociologist whose field of expertise is the study of medications and the evidence of medication problems the bigger problem is the milder reactions, some of which are quite damaging to people even though they are regarded as quite minor.

According to Light side effects we have been told are nothing to get too concerned about such as sleeplessness, muscle aches, dizziness, nausea, drowsiness, and occasional bout on depression are anything but. Light says that medications affecting a person's sense of balance or slow their reaction time are a major cause of falls and traffic accidents. Even muscle pain or gastric problems can dramatically impact mobility, affect job performance, reduce activity levels, increase irritability, and in general lower quality of life.

We assume our medications are specially formulated to target a specific medical issue but the truth is they rarely do. In fact, the drugs we are filling our medicine cabinets with  are very complex molecules effecting multiple organs. The truth is no one knows what long-term side effects most medications will have over the long haul.

This is particularly true for older people whose vital organs are generally on the decline. As seniors our hearts will lose 50 percent of its pumping power by the age of 80, the kidneys will not be as efficient at filtering toxins out of the bloodstream as they once were, and our liver may also be in decline.

The truth is as we age we simply aren't as well off as we once were and will try almost anything to offset our downward spiral which generally includes a trip to the doctor's office ending with another prescription.

Our bodies are complex and equipped to overcome a great many challenges but can only take so much. Statistically, 40 percent of Americans can expect to be on 5 or more medications by the time they turn 60 and 75 percent will be on 2 or more prescription medications.

Three thoughts to leave you with in closing. Clinical studies are rarely conducted on seniors;  85 percent (6 out of 7) of new drugs are no more effective than the older ones and may be more dangerous due to no long-term record of safety;  and there are many forms of natural medicine such as homeopathy which might be able to help you reduce your dependency on prescription medications. As always be sure and talk to your doctor before making any changes.