Medication Nation
Created on 7/1/2008
If you're not taking a prescription medicine for a chronic illness count yourself lucky, because you are in the minority. For the first time ever, over half of all Americans are using prescription drugs to help treat chronic disease. The most commonly used agents? Those for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The good news here is that there are now a wide variety of medications that can effectively treat these conditions, as well as many other chronic maladies. What's frustrating is that there are many things each of us can do on our own to lessen the chance of having high blood pressure or high cholesterol, for example, or at least lessen our need for medication shoud we develop these disorders. Unfortunately, the focus is on treatment of the disease, rather than prevention of the disease.
Other troubling statistics from the data that compared prescribing practices in 2001 and in 2007:
- 25% of children and teenagers regularly use a prescription drug
- 2/3 of women 20 years and older are chronically medicated
- In the 20-44 year old age group there was a 20% increase in regular use of prescription medication
- Over 20% of men and women over age 65 years use 5 or more medications daily
It's wonderful that we have these medications available to us - but what if each and every American had access to credible information we could use to better care for ourselves, to better inform our dietary and lifestyle decisions, and thus maybe avoid the need for medication because we've acted to prevent the development of a specific chronic disorder?
You may be saying, "Well, my Dad had high blood pressure, my mom had diabetes, so I just have to get used to the idea that I'll be developing those illnesses, too." Not necessarily so.
Remember, we know more about health promotion now than we did when our parents and grandparents were growing up. Sure, there's a strong genetic component to certain illnesses, and with a strong family history of chronic disease there's a greater chance we will develop the same disorder, but the risk is not absolute. In other words, there may be actions we can take to prevent development of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and other chronic disorders, and if not prevent them at least delay their onset until much later in our lives.
Can dietary factors play that much of a factor in health and wellbeing? Yes, and the sooner we institute healthy eating habits the better off we are. It's never too late to start, and it's actually very important to impart healthy eating habits to our children (doing so helps keep them healthy both as children and adults). Can lifestyle interventions like regular exercise, participating in stress management activities, and getting adequate sleep help prevent signficant illness? Again, yes.
For most of us, fortunately, the chance to be healthy over a long life is within our grasp. We need to make good dietary and lifestyle choices that we stick to, build in occasional splurges (!), and develop a good relationship with our primary care doctors. We don't have to be perfect with our choices, but it's empowering to know we are participating in our own long-term health and wellbeing by staying informed, and making even a small number of healthy dietary and lifestyle changes that may just become lilfelong habits.
But we also need guidance. If we're going to act, those actions need to be based on high quality, credible information. That is the reason why Harris Teeter initiated its yourwellness program in 2006, one of the first wellness initiatives for shoppers in the nation - so we might all be well.
Visit the Harris Teeter web site and click on the yourwellness banner to access information developed by medical and nutrition experts with unique training, information that is easily accessible and that can be applied to your daily life today, information that can help keep you healthy.
We live in a day and age of wondrous medical advances, including the availablity of a broad range of prescription drugs. Wouldn't it be better, however, not to need them?
Take control over your health and wellbeing. Learn what you can do for yourself and your family. Act now, and be well.
Dr. Russ
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