Prescription Drug Addiction Statistics- Drug Abuse Hits Home

The big drug addiction problem facing America, according to drug addiction statistics, lies not in the crack houses and shooting galleries of the inner cities, but in the doctor’s offices to which millions of Americans go in search of relief for their physical and emotional pain.

Drug Abuse Among The Elderly

As the Baby Boomer generation enters its retirement years, there are now more Americans over the age of sixty than ever before. Whether or not that is a factor, more prescriptions are being written, with less thorough understanding of the patient’s physical condition, than ever, and under those circumstances, it is not surprising that prescription drug abuse, according to the most recent prescription drug addiction statistics, is on the rise.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, in its latest publication of prescription drug addiction statistics, has both pinpointed those over sixty as the group among whom prescription drug abuse is the highest. According to their prescription drug addiction statistics, more than 17% of them are guilty of abuse; a very large number of those are oblivious to the fact that they are drug abusers.

What this may point to is an overwhelmed medical system, which limits doctors in the amount of time they can spend with each patient, and medical insurance companies who find it cheaper to pay for prescription pain medication than to pay for the therapies or surgeries which would eliminate the sources of the pain. Prescription drug addiction statistics revealing drug abuse among the elderly does not speak well for the US health system.

Drug Abuse Among The Young

eveal another at-risk age group; the young, as well as the elderly, are becoming more and more dependent on prescription medicines. Those between the ages of twelve and twenty-five are now five times more likely to engage in prescription drug abuse than they were just twenty-five years ago. And the trend is growing faster among girls and young women than among boys and young men.

Another alarming truth underlying these prescription drug addiction statistics is that, when those who cannot get their prescriptions refilled need their fixes, they can turn to friends who have the same prescriptions, or they can buy the pills from strangers. Even worse, they can do it without their doctor’s knowledge.

The illegal sales of prescription drugs have soared in recent years. And as long as prescription drugs are the treatment of choice for so many conditions, prescription drug addiction statistics give no reason to think that trend will reverse.

Premature Ejaculation And Prescription Drugs

Many doctors have found the connection between Premature Ejaculation And Paxil, the antidepressant drug. In fact, some men have shown a real improvement when they combine paxil with another drug for erectile dysfunction, such as Viagra. However, in most cases, doctors will only turn to prescribing antidepressants to treat premature ejaculation when all other methods have failed. It is important to attempt standard treatment before turning to prescriptions drugs, due to the side affects.

If you have tried all other methods of treatment and have found only failure, it may be time to approach your doctor. While this is not easy for any man, it is sometimes necessary to treat the problem. Premature ejaculation is one of the most regular problems amongst men and can create a great deal of trouble in their normal and sexual lives. This problem can create low self esteem, the lack of sexual drive, and so much more. Therefore, it is important to get help when it is needed.

When you speak with your doctor he or she may find that you need additional treatment. In some cases, they may believe that premature ejaculation and Paxil is the right form of treatment for you. In this instance, your personal physician would then make a referral to a sex therapist or psychiatrist for further treatment. However, your doctor may forego the referral and prescribe your Paxil themselves.

In recent studies surrounding premature ejaculation and Paxil, it was found that men who took the antidepressant drug had the ability to last longer. Most any antidepressant drug have a list of possible side effects. When it comes to Paxil, one of the side effects is prolonging ejaculation. This is why many doctors are turning to this method of treatment for premature ejaculation. It has worked for many men and it may work for you.

It is important to weigh the benefits and the risk before you decide to take any form of medication to treat premature ejaculation. Discuss all of the above with your doctor and determine if this is the right method of treatment for you. Make sure you understand all side effects and risks before you begin. However, you do have other alternatives.

One of the best premature ejaculation treatments is Climinax. The great thing about Climinax is that it is an all natural product that works to help men last longer and enjoy sexual intercourse even more. There are no side effects, as the product is completely natural. In fact, there are far more benefits than just treating premature ejaculation. As an added benefit, Climinax is also a dietary supplement, which contains vitamins that will help in other areas of your health as well.

Prescription Drugs From Online Pharmacies - For the Uninsured and Underinsured

Many Americans lost their jobs in the past months, who lost their health insurance as well. Health is a main concern of most households. But since the economic is getting tough, many do not have sufficient funds to maintain healthcare. Most of them may turn to online pharmacies because medical care and prescription medications can be prohibitively expensive. Many internet pharmacies sell prescription drugs only with a prescription, some do not require a pre-written prescription. Because in some countries prescriptions are really not required. Of those which do not require prescriptions, some do ask the customer to fill in a health questionnaire with their order. Some costumers order drugs from such pharmacies to avoid the inconvenience and cost of visiting a doctor or to get medications which their doctor were unwilling to prescribe.

To save money, millions of uninsured and underinsured U.S. consumers purchase drugs from online pharmacies in Canada, India, the UK and other countries and receive their purchases by mail. In the United States, there has been a push to legalize importation of medications from other countries. Those countries who are offering cheap or affordable drugs like Canada, India, Pakistan and Mexico. Online pharmacies can provide up to three months supply of drug for the same price as a single month compared to drugstores on high streets. The idea of getting as much amount of supply as they want with one prescription only versus going back to the doctor many times just to avail medication is very practical and economical.

Ordering drugs online not just saves you a lot of money but also avoiding possible hassles of going to the drugstores or traveling to the nearby countries' pharmacies. Some medical practitioners commented that pharmacies offering medication without prescription and doctor consent are sometimes fraudulent. It has been a trend to buy online, the issue with fraud is now not after the access to legality but the awareness itself. Drugs available online are often produced by well-known manufacturers and like other drugs found in local pharmacies - are FDA approved. There are many online pharmacies across the net, the choice is yours.

Can Prescription Drug Addiction Be Prevented With Exercise?

A recent study concluded that regular exercise reduces the motivation for taking drugs. This should actually come as no surprise - exercise has already been proven to reduce anxiety and depression, two of the major reasons why a person might start taking drugs (or alcohol) in the first place, and continue using them until they need a drug addiction treatment center to quit. However, it might be a different story with prescription drug addiction.

The test began by keeping one group of rats in cages with wheels and the other in cages without wheels for six weeks. The group with wheels got up to the point of running 10 kilometers a day and the others got no exercise at all.

After six weeks, cocaine dispensers were put in the cages. The rats had to press levers to get the cocaine, and the number of presses needed was continually increased. The exercised rats stopped trying when they had to press 70 times to get a hit, while the unexercised rats kept going until the lever needed to be pressed 250 times. Also, the rats who had exercised the most quit trying sooner.

Why is prescription drug addiction different? First of all, the rats were not made to take the drug.

Many people who end up with a prescription drug addiction problem aren't fully aware that they had a choice of whether to take the drug or not. They had an illness, injury, operation or emotional trauma, or they have a problem with chronic back pain or something similar, or were just feeling generally unhappy. They went to their doctor, were prescribed their 'medicine, and dutifully followed their doctor's orders.

In the case of a short-term problem - like taking painkillers after an operation - there's a good chance they might not continue pressing the lever after the prescribed length of treatment, let's say a week or two. However, if they were already depressed, anxious or had other things going on that predisposed them to addiction, 'feeling no pain' for a couple of weeks might motivate them to take the drug longer and eventually wind up with a prescription drug addiction.

If they're suffering from chronic pain, anxiety or depression - longer term problems - there's a good chance the doctor will prescribe a longer course of the drug. That will almost invariably lead to a physical dependency and they'll have trouble quitting. Also, if they experienced any relief from their symptoms with the drugs, they're likely to confuse the side effects of withdrawal with a return of their original symptoms and figure they still need their medicine. In many cases, the longer course of treatment is more likely to result in prescription drug addiction than the shorter course.

When the problem becomes prescription drug addiction, rather than dependency, is hard to say: addiction involves a complex set of factors.

However, for all intents and purposes, the result is the same - they can't get off the prescription drugs without the help of a drug addiction treatment center. How much treatment they'll need depends on whether the problem is prescription drug addiction or if it is just physical dependency.

How could this have been avoided? In the case of short-term severe pain, the answer it to quit the drug as soon as possible. With longer-term conditions, there are drug-free alternatives. Chronic physical pain can sometimes be addressed with chiropractic, physical therapy or acupuncture, or with vitamins and minerals that are natural painkillers or help relieve inflammation.

Emotional problems can also often be handled with the right alternative treatments and, yes, by getting on the wheel. Far less than 10 kilometers a day can get results.

Many doctors are aware of the potential for prescription drug addiction, and they realize that some drugs only relieve symptoms - they don't get at the cause of the problem. Consequently, more doctors are prescribing non-drug alternatives. If your doctor isn't one of them, consider educating him. Or, switch to a doctor whose advice won't result in you checking into a drug addiction treatment center in the future to handle a problem that's worse than you had in the first place - prescription drug addiction.

Gloria MacTaggart is a freelance writer that contributes articles on health

Mixing Alcohol and Prescription Drugs - The Big Gamble

Many people with a drinking problem are also using pills for an array of reasons. It is a good idea to know the risks involved from mixing alcohol with these drugs. Here is a list of some of the results that can be expected when mixing drinking with pills.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics as we know are used to treat infectious diseases. In combination with acute alcohol consumption, some antibiotics can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, and in more extreme cases convulsions. At the very least, alcohol consumption decreases or nullifies the effects of the antibiotic. In other words, there is no point in taking antibiotics if you are drinking because the antibiotic won't work and you won't experience any of the benefits of the antibiotic.

Antidepressants

Alcoholism and depression frequently go hand in hand, leading to a very good chance of alcohol-antidepressant interactions. Alcohol increases the sedative effect of tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil and other similar drugs, impairing the mental skills required for say, driving. This is because acute (drinking on a regular basis) alcohol consumption increases the availability of some tricyclics, potentially increasing their sedative effects. Also there is a chemical called tyramine, found in some beers and wine that will interact with some anti-depressants, resulting in a dangerous rise in blood pressure, and if it goes high enough can result in stroke. Even just one drink can set the stage for an interaction like this.

Anti-diabetic Medication

Oral hypoglycemic drugs are prescribed to help lower blood sugar levels in some patients with diabetes. Chronic alcohol consumption decreases the availability of these needed drugs in your system. Alcohol also interacts with some drugs of this class to produce symptoms of nausea and headache. In addition to the potential drug interaction, while moderate amounts of alcohol can cause blood sugar to rise, excess alcohol can actually decrease your blood sugar level -- sometimes causing it to drop into dangerous levels.

When diabetics run into serious departures from the correct blood sugar levels, it results in organic degeneration.

Antihistamines

Drugs like Benadryl and similar drugs in this family are available without prescription to treat allergic symptoms and insomnia. Alcohol can intensify the sedation caused by some antihistamines, causing slower reactions and poor judgment. These drugs may cause excessive dizziness and sedation more intensely in older people.

Antipsychotic Medications

Drugs such as Thorazine for example are used to diminish psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. Acute alcohol consumption increases the sedative effect of these drugs resulting in impaired coordination and potentially fatal breathing problems. Further, the combination of chronic alcohol ingestion and antipsychotic drugs can accelerate liver damage.

Antiseizure Drugs

These drugs are prescribed mainly to treat epilepsy. Chronic drinking can significantly reduce the patient's protection against the epileptic seizures, even during a period of abstinence.

Cardiovascular medications

These drugs include a variety of medications prescribed to treat heart problems and issues with the circulatory system. Acute alcohol consumption interacts with some of these drugs to cause dizziness or fainting when attempting to standing up. These drugs include nitroglycerin used for angina, and most of the medications used to treat high blood pressure.

Chronic alcohol consumption decreases the high blood pressure medication in your system reducing its effect and leaving you more vulnerable to the problem the drug has been taken to alleviate.

Narcotic Pain Medication

These drugs are prescribed for pain. They include the opiates morphine, codeine, Darvon, and Demerol. The combination of opiates and alcohol enhances the sedative effect of both substances, increasing the risk of death from an overdose.

Non-narcotic Pain Prescriptions

Aspirin and this type of nonprescription pain reliever, on their own some of these drugs cause stomach bleeding and inhibit blood from clotting. Mixed with alcohol can increase these effects. This can result in episodes of gastric bleeding. In addition, aspirin may increase the potency of the alcohol, increasing the effects of drinking.

Chronic alcohol ingestion activates enzymes that transform acetaminophen type drugs like Tylenol and others into chemicals that can cause liver damage, even when acetaminophen is used in commonly used (or lower) amounts.

Sedatives - Sleeping Pills/Tranquilizers

Benzodiazepines such as Valium are used to treat anxiety and insomnia. Doses of benzodiazepines can cause severe drowsiness in the presence of alcohol, increasing the risk of household and car accidents, and in the right combination, can result in depressed heart and breathing functions. Low doses of Dalmane interact with low doses of alcohol to impair driving ability, even when alcohol is ingested the morning after actually taking the Dalmane. Since many alcoholics often suffer from anxiety and insomnia, and since many of them take morning drinks, this interaction may be dangerous.

The benzodiazepine Ativan is used for anti-anxiety and sedative effects. The combination of alcohol and Ativan can result in depressed heart and breathing functions.

Acute alcohol consumption increases the potency of the barbiturates in the bloodstream, prolonging the sedative effect. Further, acute or chronic alcohol consumption enhances the sedative effect of barbiturates at their site of action in the brain, sometimes leading to coma or even fatal respiratory depression.

Anticoagulants

Coumadin is prescribed to retard the blood's ability to clot. Acute alcohol consumption along with taking the anticoagulant increases the user's risk for life-threatening hemorrhages. And chronic alcohol consumption reduces the Coumadin benefits therefore lessening the patient's protection from the consequences of blood-clotting disorders.

Anesthetics

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As we all know, anesthetics are administered prior to surgery to render a patient unconscious and oblivious to pain. Chronic alcohol consumption increases the dose of anesthetics required to induce loss of consciousness. Chronic alcohol consumption also increases the risk of liver damage that can be caused by the anesthetic gases.

If you have a drinking problem and have an upcoming surgery, this would be the time when being completely honest with your doctor about your drinking habits will really pay off.

Is an Online Pharmacy Business Right for You?

There are a myriad of opportunities online. You may often wonder what sells online, and how you can take advantage of it. I was watching some television tonight, and noticed something interesting. About 50% of the ads on television were about some type of medication. It got me thinking, why not sell drugs online? Legal drugs mind you. It turns out that this can be quite the profitable niche. So, if you're interested in selling medications online via an online pharmacy business, then listen up.

First off, since early 2000 there have been literally hundreds of online pharmacies that have sprung up serving the needs of the masses. Just like your local pharmacy, an online pharmacy allows you to purchase over the counter medications as well as prescription drugs as well.

One advantage an online pharmacy has over the local pharmacy is that people can purchase their medications 24 hours a day from the comfort of their own homes. No need to wait in long lines anymore!

However, due to patient abuse of the online pharmacy, the United States government has stepped in to strictly enforce the sales of certain medications. For instance, in the past, people have been to purchase certain prescription medications with no prescription at all. And for some people this is the perfect situation, because it allows them to bypass having to go their doctor for a prescription.

The obvious problem with this is that this kind of negligent practice can be very dangerous to the customer to even the extent of life threatening. Bypassing the years of experience a doctor has in understanding the nuisances of the indications and contraindications for the different prescription drugs can be a fatal mistake.

But if you keep within the rules, you'll realize that an online pharmacy can indeed be a huge profit center for you. With the tremendous amounts of people looking for the convenience of shopping for their medications online, you'll be sure to have a ready and steady stream of buyers. Just be sure that you keep within the rules when faced with a scenario where a person wants to purchase a prescription drug but doesn't have a prescription from a doctor to purchase it.

Remember, selling a prescription drug to a person without a prescription is illegal. So, don't do it!

If you do decide to run an online pharmacy business, you may want to acquire the help of an in-house doctor who'll be able to prescribe prescription medication to a customer who really needs it. But remember, this may also be a dangerous practice (especially for the doctor) because the doctor will be prescribing medications to a person he or she doesn't really know a lot about.

These are just some of the issues you may encounter when starting your online pharmacy business. There are legal matters that need to be addressed before you can even think about opening your doors to the online global community.

By understanding these issues, you may be further able to decide if running an online pharmacy business is for you. Medications can be life altering (for better or worse) and you owe it to yourself and future customers to do your research and detailed analysis of this kind of business before you decide to jump in. Your customer's lives are in your hands. Good Luck!

Prescription Drug Abuse - A Growing Trend Among Teens

Just when we're starting to feel a little safer about so-called "street drugs," heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and the like, that their use among teens is diminishing, we're ripped out of our comfort zone and confronted with a new enemy; prescription drugs. Legal drugs.

Yes, the medicines that we keep in our medicine cabinet, and the prescription pills that we carry in our purses prescribed by our physicians for whatever ailment we're suffering from, are now being lifted right out from under our noses by our teens.

Consider these statistics from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration).

• More than 1 in 10 teens (or 2.8 million) have abused prescription drugs in their lifetimes according to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
• 1 in 3 teens report knowing someone who abuses prescription drugs according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
• 1 in 3 teens surveyed says there is "nothing wrong" when using prescription drugs "every once and (sic) awhile." according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
• Every day, 2,700 teens abuse a prescription drug for the first time according to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
• 8 out of 10 teens who misuse prescription drugs get the drugs from friends or relatives through a number of means including stealing, buying or simply asking for the drugs according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.

This is pretty scary stuff. We use prescription drugs without giving them much thought. We take them in front of our children. If we have a headache we pop an aspirin or a "pain pill" prescribed by our doctor.

There is nothing wrong with the above. There are legitimate reasons for taking pills. No one wants to be in pain and no one should. But what we don't realize is the silent message that we're sending to our kids - taking pills makes us feel better.

Unfortunately our children don't think as rationally as adults and they may translate taking a pill for pain to taking a pill just to feel good. The pills are legal and parents use them, ergo, they must not be as harmful as other illegal drugs. This is dangerous thinking.

Parents need to sit down with their children now and explain the dangers of taking pills for recreational use. Whether they're taking cocaine or the other hard drugs or prescription pills it doesn't matter - they're still taking drugs solely to get high and they don't understand the possible deadly consequences.

Some teens throw "pharm" parties - each kid bringing some pills, putting them in a bowl, mixing them around, and then swallowing a few pills or sometimes swallowing a handful. They're ingesting uppers and downers together - a deadly combination. cheap drugs without prescription

I urge every parent to take this new threat seriously. Keep track of your pills, how many you should have and keep them locked away safely.

Don't wait until the police are knocking at your door. Remember, it's never too early to speak to your children about drugs but it can be too late.

Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of three (3) books on drugs and addiction. Her children's book - The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat is consistently on Amazon.com's Best Sellers List in Substance Abuse. She writes numerous articles on drugs and addiction both for online sites and print publications.