What this study indicates is that even when prescription drug safety databases are published, and even when the adverse side effects of drugs are apparently well-known, doctors will continue to prescribe these drugs to elderly patients. Unfortunately, our population is increasingly dosed on prescription drugs, and this is especially true in elderly patients, where symptoms of aging are almost always masked with drugs and medications rather than lifestyle changes or nutritional approaches.
And sadly, once an elderly person gets on at least one prescription drug, it usually sets off a cascade of medications because the first drug causes side effects that have to be masked by a second drug, and the second drug causes additional side effects that have to be masked by a third drug, and so on. The cascade continues until the person is sometimes taking a dozen or more prescription drugs and their body is practically in shock trying to deal with the toxicity of the chemical cocktail.
What about deadly drug combinations? Even though this study didn't look at the danger of drug combinations, this is also a huge risk for elderly patients. Often, patients are taking so many prescription drugs that even the doctor forgets to look at the dangerous drug combinations. As a result, severe toxicity can easily creep into the equation and result in liver failure, neurological damage, or even death.
I also find it amazing that there are some drugs that even the industry itself admits are dangerous drugs. They are so dangerous that they have to be placed on a special list. It begs the question: if these drugs are so dangerous, shouldn't they be pulled off the market? And if the industry considers these drugs to be dangerous, does it automatically consider all other drugs not on the list to be safe?
What's the threshold for making this danger list, because in my studies, I've found that virtually all prescription drugs are dangerous. There is no synthetic chemical drug that does not have side effects that compromise the health of human beings taking them. In effect, all prescription drugs should be on the "dangerous" list.
My last comment on this is that I find it very sad that so many patients over 65 end up being guinea pigs for the American pharmaceutical industry (Big Pharma). They are dosed up based on shoddy recommendations from their physicians, and many of these people don't question the authority of doctor. They think doctors know best, and if the doctor recommends a prescription for joint pain, they go ahead and willingly take it. After all, they say, my doctor recommended it. That's the story with Vioxx, which has now been pulled from the market due to fatal side effects.
Prescription drugs are never the answer. People at the age of 65 shouldn't be aging as rapidly as we're seeing in the general population in the first place. The human body is designed to stay perfectly healthy up to the age of 100 and beyond. What's required to achieve that sort of longevity is, of course, lifestyle changes that include regular physical exercise, outstanding nutrition, and avoidance of all metabolic disruptors such as refined sugar, white flour, aspartame, MSG, sodium nitrite, and so on.
If you are an older person, take this to heart, because this study proves the fact that if you go to a doctor and actually believe what they're telling you, there is a 20% chance they are going to be prescribing you a drug that even the pharmaceutical industry admits is extremely dangerous and should never be prescribed to elderly patients.
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