I saw this thing on TV about seniors and really expensive prescription drugs and this one guy seemed like he had about 10 different prescriptions.
I was thinking about how I really do not know anyone over 60 in my family that isn’t taking prescription drugs so even though I take care of myself is that what I have to look forward to in the future taking truckloads of prescription drugs?
I have never taken more than 2 prescription drugs within the same time period and one was for acne (It worked really well, by the way) and the other is my asthma inhaler that I only use for sports. Is this whole prescription drug thing an inevitable part of aging?
No, it’s not inevitable - there are people in their 80’s and 90’s that aren’t taking anything - but it’s a little unusual.
If you want to avoid the most common reasons for prescriptions, you have to avoid both heart disease (including just plain old high blood pressure) and diabetes. There are other reasons to take pills, but those are the most common. Thing is, most people get one or the other or both past age 60.
If, however, you have either of those conditions you really are better off taking appropriate medictions (overprescribing does occur)
So… if you want to avoid all that, eat right and exercise - those are the two things most likely to give you a healthy old age. It’s not garaunteed, but it’s worth a shot if you ask me.
Well, since I enjoy** life** I daily take several prescription drugs.
I have a mechanical heart valve. I have to take blood anticoagulants (warfarin= Coumadin) to prevent bloods clots from forming on the valve.
I take medication to control abnormal triglycerides. Even in a strict diet they continue to be elevated without medication.
I have abnormal thyroid levels, I take medication to keep it normal.
I also take blood pressure medication due to a slightly higher than normal blood pressure. (weight is normal, don’t smoke or drink, fast walk 4 miles a day, I jogged for 20 years until valve replacement)
I know some people that are older than I that never take any drugs… they are lucky!
My grandmother has a deep mistrust of pharmaceuticals. She’ll barely even take aspirin. Luckily, she’s as healthy as a horse.
Me, I take seven different medications every day. If I didn’t, I’d be in serious pain. I envy her for not needing to take anything, and wish I could convince her that the potential damage to my liver is greatly outweighed by being able to function semi-normally.
That being said, I think we may be a somewhat over-medicated society. The knee-jerk reaction of some doctors to a complaint is to write a prescrition to help ease the symptoms, even before an organic cause is determined or treated. It’s happened to me twice.
Secondly, there seems to be a trend of people diagnosing themselves from information they see on commercials for drugs, and then basically “ordering” them from their compliant doctors. One of my doctors told me that she hates those kinds of commercials, because shortly after they begin airing, patients come in convinced they need the pill de jour because the vague descritption of what it treats seems to fit their symptoms.
My grandma is a bit right in a certain respect: folks of her generation would “suck up” a minor complaint, rather than seek medication for it. I can see her point that my generation is more willing to take pills for things that we could reasonably handle without them. (Now, of course, there’s no reason to suffer, but very minor complaints don’t always need a prescription.)