Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Grandpa's Poppin' Pills



While watching TV with my wife the other night, a commercial came on for a new drug that promised to relieve the suffering associated with RLS.

RLS?

What on earth is RLS?

The commercial explained the symptoms of RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) in great detail and told 60 seconds worth of heartbreaking stories; individuals who's lives had been reborn thanks to this new drug. As I sat there, I couldn't help but notice a slight twinge in my right leg. Could I be suffering from RLS? All these years, living with the agony of condition I never knew or noticed? As suggested, I made a mental note to ask my doctor if this new treatment could be right for me. I would additionally be calling my pediatrician, as I am sure that at least four of my children have an extreme case of RLS as well.

In all seriousness, the growth of conditions and drugs to treat them in this country over the last generation has been spectacular. Sending my oldest child off to Boy Scout camp this week took the coordination of nurses, doctors, camp medical staff, and a troop appointed medication supervisor. All for an allergy pill and his inhaler. #overkill

Even anecdotal evidence suggests that we are doping up our children at an historic rate. However, the number of seniors who find themselves dependent on an endless barrage of drugs is equally alarming.

As a result of their advancing age, no other group uses more drugs than seniors. The aches, pains and maladies of getting older are nothing to be scoffed at and do require serious medical attention. But the cure is sometimes worse than the disease as we are now beginning to see.

According to SAMHSA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration- I had to look it up too), one out of every four adults over the age of 50 is now using psychoactive medications- mostly opioid pain relievers and benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium. The only thing more staggering than that number is the rate at which that number has grown.  The number of prescriptions written for seniors to obtain drugs in those categories has grown by twenty percent over the last five years. That is nearly double the growth rate of the senior population. Double.

The obvious concern with narcotics is misuse. While there are staggering statistics regarding the number of seniors who are misusing or addicted to drugs, I suspect that many of the victims of this epidemic are never counted. They suffer in isolation; continuing to attempt to chase away pain and anxiety with the contents of  a little plastic bottle. They often meet their demise with little fanfare. Perhaps a heart attack or stroke which was brought about by the massive amount of narcotics that noone knew or will ever know they were ingesting.

But if you prefer a Dragnet approach, here are "just the facts."

-Annual emergency room visits by patients 65 and over for misuse of pharmaceuticals climbed by more than 50% between 2007-2011. That is a 50% increase in four years.

-The rate of overdose deaths among people 55 and older, regardless of drug type, nearly tripled from 1999-2010.

-The CDC states that of those deaths in 2010, 75% involved a senior using narcotic painkillers and a full third of those seniors were also on a benzodiazepine.

In any other segment of the population, tripling the death rate would be cause for alarm. To truly appreciate the complete lack of any discernible outrage regarding this issue, perhaps it is best to look at the current event which elicits a passionate response from persons on both sides of the issue.

Prescription Drug Deaths vs School Shooting Deaths

In 2008, there were 20,044 deaths officially recorded by the CDC as a result of the misuse of prescription drugs.

In 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 so far there have been 122 fatalities as a result of school shootings.

That is roughly a 164:1 ratio of deaths by prescription drugs in a single year to school shootings over a 6 and a half year period.

Are we sending postcards to physicians who have become known as "pill-mills" saying 'Not One More?'

Are we demanding that dangerous drugs be outlawed?

Are we insisting that more extensive background checks into a person's medical record be made before allowing them to take home lethal narcotics?

Not even close.

Rather, we sit back and watch television at night, instructed by another commercial to ask our doctor whether some new wonder-drug could be the pill-shaped solution to the problem we didn't even know we had.



For more information on what Home Instead Senior Care can do to help the senior in your life click here.






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