Americans are a drugged up bunch. While state and national drug enforcement agencies pour resources down the drain of interdiction a new cornucopia of pharmacopeia opens on another corner of Raleigh every week.
A study by Medco Health Solutions said in May that more than half of all insured Americans regularly take prescription medicines for chronic health problems. The study said two-thirds of women over age 20 are taking something for chronic illness.
Are we that sick? Are we that dependent on chemical solutions?
Our health insurance providers tell us the three most prescribed medicines are for stress, blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. In the next breath they will say that weight loss, better diet and exercise will dramatically lower the need for all three medicines. But hey, it's easier to get a prescription than to deny yourself a second helping. You sweat less to walk into the drug store than to work out at the gym.
Sometimes prescriptions cause more problems than they cure. My dad used to walk three miles a day. Then his doctor increased his dose of cholesterol medicine and now his feet are too tender to walk regularly. That;s not an uncommon side effect of such medicines, but dad is of a generation that believes the doctor is always right, even when she's wrong.
At my last physical my doctor said, "You're 55. I feel like I should put you on something, but nothing is indicated. Your cholesterol is at the high end of what we'd like to see, but you appear to be controlling it with diet and exercise"
Now doctors are talking about prescribing cholesterol lowering medication to children as young as eight. Yes, I understand that many children already obese at that age do not meet the arbitrary standards for "high" cholesterol established by drug companies, in compliant cooperation with the medical industry.
Those standards have been set, in part, so the drug companies can sell $5 billion in cholesterol medicine annually to help us meet their standard. Their largest market is now one that didn't exist a few years ago.
But the obvious prescription in the children's case is not for chemicals but to shut off the television, drop the potato chips and sodas and get outside and play.
I'll write a prescription for the family, too: Get out there mom and dad and play with them.
If you are waiting for a magic bullet prescription to make you drop weight, lower cholesterol, regulate blood pressure and relieve stress, you will never find one.
But if you get up and get active with your children, the moments you enjoy - and their health benefit - will be magical.
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