Integrative Health Blog

What to Consider Before Taking New Prescriptions

Posted by on Wed, Feb 14, 2018

In my over 30 years of practice as a holistic doctor, I have seen both types of patients. Those who arrive to my office with bags full of prescribed medications, and those who arrive with a suitcase full of “natural supplements.” (I’ve even seen fellow doctors do this.) What is wrong with this picture?

Sometimes well intentioned doctors prescribe their patients a medication without reviewing what she or he has already been prescribed by another doctor, or sometimes patients neglect to mention a medication or supplement. When that happens, the new prescribed medication may dangerously interact with another the patient has already taken. Hospitalizations due to untoward effects of correctly prescribed medications range from 1.5 to 2.7 million cases per year. The death rate from the consumption of prescribed medications in the USA is estimated to be five times that of the rate for opioid abuse.

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Tags: functional medicine, prescription drugs

25% of Teenagers are Doing What?!

Posted by on Mon, Mar 09, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s common knowledge that adolescence is characterized by risk-taking behaviors and experimentation. 

As a parent, you try your best to warn your adolescent children about the dangers they may face, especially regarding drug and alcohol abuse.  One type of drug use that is less commonly recognized is prescription drug abuse. In fact, after marijuana, prescription drugs are the most commonly abused drug by teenagers.

A very disturbing trend

Nearly 50% of Americans take at least one prescription medication, and the sale of prescription painkillers quadrupled from 1999 to 2010.  Therefore, prescription medications are readily accessible by children and teens.  It’s estimated that 25% of teenagers has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime.

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Tags: children's health, pediatrics, prescription drugs