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Popping Pills

AMERICANS LEAD WORLD IN POPPING PILLS

Alice and Ken Heckman each begin their morning by cracking open a rattling plastic tray carting scores of pills in a rainbow of pastel colors.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...26967%2C00.html

Pills Popping

I hate to say it, but I'm a pill popper. I take multivitamins, blood pressure medication, headache meds, and anti anxiety meds. All of them make my life easier. At one point I was trying to control everything they do through what I eat. But in the end, it was either too hectic or too expensive to eat right. So the pills seem to supplement what we should be doing with an easy way out.

Popping Pills Health & Special Psychology

I definitely believe that residents of the US of A take way too many pills. But what can you expect when there are so many commercials out there asking you if you have ever felt anything undesirable and to ask your doctor to get their medicine to "fix" it. I'm not saying that prescription drugs have no merit, but I believe that there are many people taking them when they shouldn't be. One thing that angers me that wasn't mentioned by the article is giving drugs to "over-active" children for school. I just feel that not all kids are the right match for school and giving them drugs so that they can do it easier is equivalent to stripping away some of their personality so that they will have "more desirable" characteristics.--
But to get back to the original topic there just seems to be medications for everything and many times the side effects are worse than the problem one is trying to fix. I remember a drug called Lamicil (I don't know if this is how it is spelled so I'll spell it phonetically--Lamb-uh-sill) that had some pretty serious side effects and all it did was clear up yellow toe-nails.
-Unferth

Pills Popping

I read about this study in my paper today. My question was and still is, are we healthier because of it? Is it a problem or is it a solution? Many countries have socialized medicine. In such systems, people may not always get all available treatments. Someone makes a decision as to whether or not it is merited. This doesn't necessarily mean it won't help, but maybe those in charge don't consider it a big enough benefit to justify the cost to the system. In such systems, for example, an 80 year old probably won't be given heart bypass surgery.

So, do these systems then decide not to agressively treat all medical conditions, especially for the elderly? I have mild hypertension. Medical studies show this is best treated by pills. However, 20 years ago I would have been monitored without meds and been told to exercise more and control my diet. Studies now show that there is a real benefit to my being treated by taking pills. Is this study recognized in other countries or do they still try to treat mild hypertension with diet and exercise even though studies show it is more successfully treated with pills? I don't know.

So, is this a problem? I don't necessarily think so. I think many pills make life better. You can take pills to lower cholesterol, for example. Should we just let people with high cholesterol die of heart attacks sooner than they will if they take these pills. Should I suffer from my allergies when I can take a pill that will remove the symptoms? I won't die from my allergies, but that little pill sure makes my life more fun to live.

Edited: funbikerchick on 17th Apr, 2005 - 10:20pm