Which Medicines Do You Really Need?
Jan. 16 -- Editor's Note: With the continuous development of new prescription drugs, herbal supplements and vitamins, Americans have more options now than ever before for treating their various ailments.
A study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that they are taking advantage of these options.
According to research conducted by Dr. David Kaufman at the Boston University School of Public Health, 81 percent of survey respondents claimed to use at least one medication — including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medication, vitamin, mineral or herbal supplements — in the week prior to the study. Fifty percent of respondents specifically took a prescription drug and 7 percent took five or more.
ABCNEWS asked Dr. Paul Doering of the University of Florida to comment on these results. Following is his analysis.
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Frankly, I am neither surprised nor especially concerned by these findings. We all know that Americans take a lot of medicines and this just confirms that. There are some important implications, though, to this research.
First, I must point out that these data do not reflect what is going on today. I'll bet the numbers are even higher, with the growing popularity of dietary supplements.
As you might know, there is a nationwide shortage of pharmacists and this increase in number of drugs used is further contributing to the problem. I have seen projections on the growth of the prescription drug market and it is interesting to see how we keep taking more and more medications.
Why is this? Well, one reason is the increase in the number of the so-called lifestyle drugs that are prescribed. Viagra, Rogaine, Retin-A, etc., can hardly be considered "essential" drugs.
Why, then, do doctors prescribe them so frequently? Well, because consumers want them and are willing to pay for them.
Also, antidepressant medications are more frequently prescribed because of a few reasons:
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