Five over Fifty is a goal set by the pharmaceutical industry, and promoted to physicians. Does your primary care physician adhere to this philosophy?
When I was forced to go onto medicare due to my age, (I’m still a young man as far as I’m concerned) I decided I needed to have someone in the medical profession to call my primary care physician. Not that I expect to need them. The last time I required medical intervention was after being blown up in an explosion 43 years ago.
Being a veteran and under care of the VA for hearing and vision, I asked if they would provide me with a primary care physician, for which they did. Having heard the VA likes to dispense drugs, I made sure my primary knew from where I am coming, and I was pleasantly surprised to find he shares much of the same concerns, and avoids dispensing any medication if not totally needed.
The five over fifty I referred to is the presumption that anyone over fifty should be on at least five medications. In a Medscape article recently, a study showed that nearly half of the United States population takes prescription drugs. This number includes all ages. The number has dropped from 48% down to 46%, but remains way too high.
When we break those numbers down, it doesn’t include the non-prescription, over the counter medications the public uses.
The one class of drug which accounted for the greatest increase involves lipid lowering drugs. These are the statins we see pushed at every appointment. Any time your cholesterol is over 200, expect to have your primary care provider try to get you on one of these awful drugs. These drugs accounted for 46% of medications in adults aged 60 and over. When you consider the potential of increasing dementia with these drugs, it’s rather scary.
During the period of 2015-2016, prescription drug use increased with age, from 18% among children younger than 12 years to 85% among adults 60 and older. The most commonly used prescription drugs were bronchodilators for children aged 0 to 11 years (4%), central nervous system stimulants for adolescents aged 12 to 19 (6%), antidepressants for adults aged 20 to 59 (11%), and lipid-lowering drugs for adults aged 60 or over (46%).
Lipid lowering drugs are automatically indicated as proper protocol for diabetics and anyone who’s had a heart attack or stroke, regardless of what blood test show. My primary care physician agreed with me that all the studies suggesting these drugs reduce potential of cardiovascular accidents have been tampered with to get the desired results, (increased sales). In other words, don’t believe everything the drug company claims. After all, when the potential side effects are worse than what you’re using the drug for, something is wrong with that.
Are there times when chemical intervention is critical? Absolutely! When I was lying in a pool of my own blood, not wanting to take another breath due to the pain involved, the paramedics gave me morphine. This allowed me to survive till they got me into surgery to put me back together again. They also used antibiotics to protect me from peritonitis after having my intestines in my hands. That was 43 years ago, and I considered myself well cared for by not having to have any more antibiotics.
That all changed upon returning from Hawaii with a severe case of cellulitis in both my legs. I’ve been informed that’s something which has happened to others from being in the water. I began the appropriate nutritional approach, but found the infection had gone beyond natural therapeutics. Because of this, I had to resort to taking an antibiotic which quickly resolved the infection. The beauty of avoiding un-necessary antibiotic therapy for 43 years, the outcome of using this antibiotic was what I desired. After antibiotic use comes the proper repair of my body’s natural bacteria.
The FDA is trying to reduce the dependance on opioids for pain management. This is good, and there are safer ways to deal with pain using less toxic treatments. The use of CBD oil has proven to be a viable treatment along with various other herbs. Finding the cause of the pain and correcting that makes the most sense if at all possible.
Structural issues with the spine and joints can often be corrected with nutrition and manipulation therapy. How many times I’ve had the patient who suffered with pain for years, because their primary care physician scared them out of having chiropractic treatments, yet out of desperation they sought out this kind of treatment, and after only one visit were pain free. I’ve been privileged to have those kind of responses in my office. The feeling of helping a suffering patient is wonderful.
Don’t be one of the 5 over 50 patients who have to be on at least five medications because the pharmaceutical industry says so. Lets find the cause and get you well.
When I was forced to go onto medicare due to my age, (I’m still a young man as far as I’m concerned) I decided I needed to have someone in the medical profession to call my primary care physician. Not that I expect to need them. The last time I required medical intervention was after being blown up in an explosion 43 years ago.
Being a veteran and under care of the VA for hearing and vision, I asked if they would provide me with a primary care physician, for which they did. Having heard the VA likes to dispense drugs, I made sure my primary knew from where I am coming, and I was pleasantly surprised to find he shares much of the same concerns, and avoids dispensing any medication if not totally needed.
The five over fifty I referred to is the presumption that anyone over fifty should be on at least five medications. In a Medscape article recently, a study showed that nearly half of the United States population takes prescription drugs. This number includes all ages. The number has dropped from 48% down to 46%, but remains way too high.
When we break those numbers down, it doesn’t include the non-prescription, over the counter medications the public uses.
The one class of drug which accounted for the greatest increase involves lipid lowering drugs. These are the statins we see pushed at every appointment. Any time your cholesterol is over 200, expect to have your primary care provider try to get you on one of these awful drugs. These drugs accounted for 46% of medications in adults aged 60 and over. When you consider the potential of increasing dementia with these drugs, it’s rather scary.
During the period of 2015-2016, prescription drug use increased with age, from 18% among children younger than 12 years to 85% among adults 60 and older. The most commonly used prescription drugs were bronchodilators for children aged 0 to 11 years (4%), central nervous system stimulants for adolescents aged 12 to 19 (6%), antidepressants for adults aged 20 to 59 (11%), and lipid-lowering drugs for adults aged 60 or over (46%).
Lipid lowering drugs are automatically indicated as proper protocol for diabetics and anyone who’s had a heart attack or stroke, regardless of what blood test show. My primary care physician agreed with me that all the studies suggesting these drugs reduce potential of cardiovascular accidents have been tampered with to get the desired results, (increased sales). In other words, don’t believe everything the drug company claims. After all, when the potential side effects are worse than what you’re using the drug for, something is wrong with that.
Are there times when chemical intervention is critical? Absolutely! When I was lying in a pool of my own blood, not wanting to take another breath due to the pain involved, the paramedics gave me morphine. This allowed me to survive till they got me into surgery to put me back together again. They also used antibiotics to protect me from peritonitis after having my intestines in my hands. That was 43 years ago, and I considered myself well cared for by not having to have any more antibiotics.
That all changed upon returning from Hawaii with a severe case of cellulitis in both my legs. I’ve been informed that’s something which has happened to others from being in the water. I began the appropriate nutritional approach, but found the infection had gone beyond natural therapeutics. Because of this, I had to resort to taking an antibiotic which quickly resolved the infection. The beauty of avoiding un-necessary antibiotic therapy for 43 years, the outcome of using this antibiotic was what I desired. After antibiotic use comes the proper repair of my body’s natural bacteria.
The FDA is trying to reduce the dependance on opioids for pain management. This is good, and there are safer ways to deal with pain using less toxic treatments. The use of CBD oil has proven to be a viable treatment along with various other herbs. Finding the cause of the pain and correcting that makes the most sense if at all possible.
Structural issues with the spine and joints can often be corrected with nutrition and manipulation therapy. How many times I’ve had the patient who suffered with pain for years, because their primary care physician scared them out of having chiropractic treatments, yet out of desperation they sought out this kind of treatment, and after only one visit were pain free. I’ve been privileged to have those kind of responses in my office. The feeling of helping a suffering patient is wonderful.
Don’t be one of the 5 over 50 patients who have to be on at least five medications because the pharmaceutical industry says so. Lets find the cause and get you well.
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