Pharmaceuticals “Record number of U.S. adults now dependent on Big Pharma prescriptions, and the most popular one causes brain damage. Harvard University research shows that 60% of Americans take prescription drugs.”
Record number of U.S. adults now dependent on Big Pharma prescriptions, and the most popular one causes brain damage.
(NaturalNews) Nearly 60 percent of all U.S. adults are now taking prescription drugs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard University and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The number rose from 51 percent in 1999 to 59 percent in 2011.
The number of people taking numerous prescription drugs also increased during that period. In 1999, “only” 8.2 percent of adults were taking five or more prescription drugs at once. Now, 15 percent are.
“This is particularly notable among older adults 65 and older,” said lead researcher Elizabeth Kantor. She noted that among adults in this age group, 39 percent now take five or more prescription drugs at the same time.
The figures come from nationwide surveys of more than 37,000 adults.
Top-used drugs: Brain-damaging statins
The rise in prescription drug use cannot be fully explained by an aging population, Kantor said. Instead, she suggested that rising obesity rates might be largely to blame. More than two-thirds of the U.S. population is now considered overweight or obese.
The most widely prescribed drugs are those related to obesity: cholesterol-lowering statins are the most widely prescribed, followed by blood pressure drugs.
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