The Rise in Prescription Drug Addictions

June 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Prescription drug abuse and addiction has drastically increased over the past decade. Whether children are getting into their parent’s supply and taking them without their knowledge, or elderly individuals are becoming too dependent on painkillers; this seemingly growing epidemic is becoming more prevalent. There are a number of different reasons that prescription drug abuse is on the rise, below is a list of some of the more obvious and important factors pertaining to this problem.

Doctors Over Prescribing Medication

One of the largest issues regarding the rise in prescription drug abuse is the fact that doctors are seemingly over prescribing these medications, particularly painkillers. Individuals go in complaining about pain, and due to the fact it is a subjective feeling that the doctor cannot deny that the patient is feeling, they are prescribed something to help neutralize the pain; whether it exists or not.

Easy to Obtain

Another factor pertaining to the heavy use and abuse of prescription drugs is the fact they are so easy to come by. An addict can easily log online to locate an overseas resource that sells specific prescription drugs they might be looking for. Additionally, more times than not, elderly individuals have a prescription for painkillers in one form or another, and can easily provide them to family members who appear to need them but are really feeding an addiction.

Bad Economic Factors

Last but not least, economic factors play a heavy role in the increase of prescription drug abuse. This concept revolves more so around individuals with prescription drug access, actually dealing their supply to make a little money on the side.

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Saving Money On Health Insurance

May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

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Health insurance rates are higher than ever and you have to do what you can to pay as little as possible. Insurance companies cite higher costs as a reason to raise rates and premiums and pass the costs on to you. It doesn’t all seem to even out however. CEOs and other top executives are getting higher salaries and bigger bonuses at large healthcare companies while middle income families feel the pinch. Here are a couple ideas to save you money on healthcare costs going forward.

1.) Avoid the emergency room if at all possible- There are just not very many plans that cover emergency room visits anymore. Indeed, if you visit an emergency room you are probably looking at $150 out of pocket. By all means if you break your arm or are in some form of excruciating pain, you should go to the emergency room. But if you are going for an injury that could be checked out in a day or two, you are much better off making an appointment with your primary care doctor and just paying the $20 co-pay.

2.) Get your employer to pay as much as possible. Often times in a marriage the wife will jump on the husbands health insurance and not think twice. However, if a wife works for a school system or has a government job, it’s highly likely that she could have the better insurance. The key is to look over both insurance plans carefully and see which family member has the best insurance.

Shopping for insurance is tedious but necessary for the best interests of your wallet and your health.

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Alcohol Continues To Be Most Dangerous Drug

May 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

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The number one drug related public health concern continues to be alcohol. It’s hard to watch TV these days without seeing a vodka bottle where the cap can pour you a shot or a beautiful girl promotes a certain brand of beer. The advertising is only the beginning. Parents who unwind on a daily basis by drinking alcohol send the message to kids that alcohol is necessary in order to relax and be at ease. Unfortunately, advertising and learned behavior can lead to the following problems.

 

1.) DUI and arrest- The fallout from a DUI is enormous but few people consider the ramifications and get behind the wheel drunk. On top of lawyer fees and other fines, you will need to take a substance abuse course in order to reinstate your driver’s license. Believe it or not, it can be a lot worse than a DUI. Drunk driver’s kill dozens of people annually with impaired driving. Once the driver sobers up, they have a lifetime of guilt to deal with over the taking of someone’s life.

2.) Health problems- You may have heard how a glass of wine a day can actually be good for you. While the merits of that are debatable, what is not debatable are the long term ramifications of serious alcohol abuse. Heavy drinking often leads to organ failure, such as the liver and the kidneys, and can lead to various forms of cancer.

Alcohol is an addiction and many need help to stop drinking. Learn to recognize the warning signs of a drinking problem and intervene when necessary in order to help a friend or loved one.

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Prescription Pill Abuse Prevelant Nationwide

May 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

 

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Certain areas of the country, Maine for instance, have seen a rise in prescription pill abuse and it has become a significant public concern. Medications prescribed to treat ADHD are very popular among the pill abusers. Likewise, pain pills like Codeine and Oxycontin, have a high street value for their ability to mask pain and make the pill taker feel high. Not only are these addictions dangerous for the pill abuser, there is also cause for concern in the resulting rise in crime. Below are three forms of crime that rise with prescription drug abuse.

1.) Pharmacy Robbery- First, there are the pharmacies which are seeing levels of all-time high in robberies. Strung out drug addicts will simply not be deterred and they often avoid cameras and approach the pharmacy armed and demanding pain pills.

2.) Street Crime- Drug addicts simply do not fear repercussions for their actions. All they want is their drugs and they are willing to snatch purses from old women in wheelchairs to get them. It’s a community health problem when people no longer feel safe walking the streets with children. A population with wandering drug addicts is dangerous for any city and needs law enforcement monitoring.

3.) Fraud- Those addicted to prescription pills will often go doctor to doctor looking for someone to write them a prescription. Furthermore, drug dealers will canvas the landscape to try and find multiple doctors to write them prescriptions so that they can sell the pills for a high mark-up. Both of these are clear cut cases of fraud and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

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Are You A Believer in Organic?

April 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Studies show that more people are becoming convinced that organic food is healthier. News sources are publishing lists of foods that should be bought organic. Chipotle, along with many other restaurants, is joining the fray by advertising when its meat is raised without the use of hormones. Health food stores like Whole Foods and GreenLife are one of the up-and-coming businesses of the times.

But is there any truth to the hype?

It is a well-known fact that cancer, allergies, and auto-immune diseases have increased dramatically in the last thirty years. In the 1970’s, teachers never had to ban peanut butter from their classroom because one of the students would go into anaphylaxis shock if exposed to it. However, these cases are increasingly common. Studies suggest that there is a correlation between the rise in these problems and the rise in ultra-processed food and hormone and pesticide use by farmers. Some theorists have suggested that this overload of unnatural chemicals has caused some people’s immune systems to attack itself. This is what allergies and auto-immune diseases are.

So what can you do to begin a more organic lifestyle? The first step is to buy organic milk. In fact, some people have found that while they react to regular milk, it is much easier for them to tolerate organic milk. Organic meat is also a good idea, but its price can be difficult to swallow.

The price in organic milk is also dropping, making it less of a price difference. Most importantly, cut out foods that are highly processed, including fast food and food with extremely long ingredient labels, filled with names you can’t pronounce.

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How to Convince Your Patients to Exercise

March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Everyone knows that regular physical activity is important for maintaining a healthy weight and staying fit, but this knowledge does not always encourage everyone to actively take part in regular exercise. Here is a list of just a few of the benefits that exercise physiology research has recently identified to encourage you, your patients, and your associates to engage in a regular activity:

  • A 2003 Georgia Tech study showed that running hard for 50 minutes or riding an exercise bike increased blood levels of endocannabinoids, a chemical class that reduces a person’s experience of pain and anxiety. For someone facing a great deal of stress, regular exercise can provide an important coping mechanism.
  • A Journal of Physiology article showed that people who worked out before breakfast were able to burn fat more efficiently than a group that had a big breakfast first. This is a good way to burn extra calories consumed around the holidays.
  • The telomeres, which are a cellular component that get shorter as the cell ages, are longer in older people who are active than those who are sedentary. In other words, exercise combats the cellular wear and tear that causes us to age. This difference is not discernible among the young, but once people reach middle age, there is a pronounced difference between the active and the sedentary. The full effects of this difference are not known, but some researchers believe this effect may have implications for the diseases that we ultimately suffer as we get older.
  • Walking helps people to remember more. Regular walks and other aerobic exercise help people to retain memories better.

Go forth and run!

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Explaining Morgellons Disease

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In 2002 a woman named Mary Leitao named a disease she had discovered “Morgellons Syndrome.” Leitao documented cases in which people felt their skin was being bitten, they had fibers coming out of persistent sores, and they could not get rid of their lesions. The difficulty for health care practitioners addressing patients who believe they have this disorder is that technically, it does not exist.

Patients who believe they suffer from Morgellons say that there are multi-colored fibers coming out of their skin, and that they feel they are infected by parasites. The singer Joni Mitchell has made public statements saying that she suffers from this syndrome. Clinical investigation has not identified a physical causative agent of this disorder, so it is believed to be psychological in nature, and possibly a form of delusional parasitosis. So many thousands of people have contacted their congressional representatives to complain that they have this illness that a special Centers for Disease Control task force was convened to investigate. Data collection ended in 2009, and the task force has not yet released their findings as of early 2011.

In addition to persistent sores and the feeling that they are being bitten under their skin, patients say that they are experiencing fatigue, joint pain, and cognitive problems. A large factor in the growth of patients who self-diagnose themselves with Morgellons is their access to internet resources which encourage this perception. Morgellons is associated primarily with delusional parasitosis but may also be associated with depression, extreme stress, substance abuse, allergies, and heavy intake of caffeine. Doctors often treat Morgellons patients with very small doses of anti-psychotic drugs in addition to wrapping the lesions to prevent patients from picking at them.

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A Summary of the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans

March 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Health care practitioners are busy people. The most recent USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans clocks in at about 100 pages, which not all clinicians may have the time to absorb. Though they only differ slightly from prior guidelines, here is a shorter rundown of the document, which is important to know about as the Guidelines do influence how dieticians and classroom teachers will present nutrition information to the public for the next 5 years.

  • Limit the calories you take in each day and be sure to get regular physical activity: More Americans are obese than ever, which is leading to concerns that cases of diabetes and other malnutrition-related chronic diseases are overloading our health care system and lowering the quality of life for a large number of people. All of the guidelines relate to more specific information related to these two points.
    • Cut back on added sugars: Refined sugars (as opposed to fruit sugars) are a major source of extra calories in the American diet. Take less soda, energy drinks, fruit drinks, and desserts for a better-balanced diet.
    • Cut sources of saturated fat: Eat less red meat and choose leaner options such as poultry and fish. Choose reduced-fat dairy products when you consume yogurt, cheese, ice cream, and milk.
    • Reduce your sodium intake. Most dietary sodium in the American diet comes from processed foods and restaurant meals, so eat fresh foods and prepare your own meals the majority of the time, especially if you have high blood pressure.
    • The food environment influences weight, such as the availability of fresh produce and places to exercise. Advocacy efforts are needed to change places where healthy habits are harder to practice.
    • For more, see each chapter’s Key Recommendations.
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Preventing Asthma Attacks

March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With industrial pollution, large amounts of time spent indoors, and more people living in cities than ever before, many individuals now suffer from asthma. This breathing constriction can be very frightening, and in some cases it can lead to hospitalization. Worried parents may feel that they are out of control of the situation and cannot prevent asthma attacks in their children, but health care workers can tell them some simple tips that will help them to reign in all but the most severe cases of asthma.

  • Do not smoke. Cigarette smoke is a serious problem for asthmatics. If anyone in your house smokes, they should try to quit, or smoke outside, far from the door or ventilation ducts of your building, and wash up immediately after smoking. If your neighbors smoke, inexpensive air filtration devices are available at many discount chains, or you can increase ventilation.
  • Keep your house clean. Insect and rodent droppings can trigger asthma attacks. If you can, remove the carpeting from your floors, or clean it with a HEPA-filter vaccuum. Sweep and mop or vaccuum on a regular basis. If you live in an apartment building, be sure that your supervisor actively engages in insect and rodent control.
  • Get preventative care. Be sure that you go to the pediatrician and follow his or her instructions for seeing any related specialists, such as an allergist, to pinpoint the cause of the asthma. Carefully follow instructions for administering medication and make sure that you closely observe your child so that they take the necessary dose. If you see the signs of an asthma attack coming on, get to the hospital as soon as possible, as it will be easier to treat earlier than later.

Fortunately, many asthma sufferers either have less severe symptoms as adults or stop experiencing the disease altogether. Childhood prevention and treatment is important to reaching that outcome.

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Eat More Plants

March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With obesity on the rise throughout the world (it has doubled since 1980), more people are trying to learn how they can modify their lifestyles to avoid chronic diseases like diabetes while continuing to enjoy eating. Many people are taking their cue from author Michael Pollan, who wrote “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” In places where meat and other animal products take up most of the plate at every meal, this dictum can be difficult to incorporate into your everyday life. Whether you want to become a vegan, a vegetarian, or if you just want to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet, there are a number of dietary considerations to think about:

  • Just more plants, please: You may be aware that you don’t eat enough plant foods, but you’re not sure where to begin. An easy visual cue is your dinner plate: half your plate should be taken up by vegetables and fruits at any given meal, with the remaining area for a protein and a starch. Fresh produce is more nutritious than processed, but  frozen vegetables can certainly be used when good fresh ones are out of season. Canned vegetables sometimes have a lot of salt, you can check the label to find out. Try to get a variety of items of all colors, not just potatoes, and reserve frying for special occasions.
  • Vegetarians or Vegans: Vegetarians do not eat meat, but many of them eat dairy products and eggs. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The reasons for adopting these diets range from ethics to health, but in order to sustain them, it is important to ensure that you continue eating a balanced diet and get all the things you need, particularly protein (essential amino acids), vitamin B12, iron and Omega 3 fatty acids. Be sure to do your research before you adopt one of these diets.
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