JUNE 16 "PARTIAL OBEDIENCE CAN LEAVE YOU DEAD"
Few doubt that Americans care about improving their health. You might even say some of us are obsessed with it: Our smoking rate is down, sales of nutritional supplements are up, restaurants with low-calorie fare are thriving and throngs of walkers and runners crowd local 5K races every weekend. But there's one area where too many of us still stumble over good intentions — following our prescriptions.
The American Heart Association reports that 12 percent of American adults fail to fill some prescriptions; 12 percent don't take a medication after bringing it home; 22 percent take a smaller dosage than prescribed; and nearly 30 percent stop taking their medicine before it runs out — and analysts believe that surveys underestimate non adherence because some patients lie about whether they're taking their drugs.
"It doesn't work for patients to decide for themselves what medicines they'll take, when or for how long," she says. Diabetics who reduce their insulin dose, for example, could have seizures or go into a coma. People with a stent need anti-coagulants daily. And those on blood thinners must take their drugs precisely for them to work.
The most common excuse people use to justify failing to take medications properly —"I feel fine. Why do I even need this?" The end result: a deadly toll. A 2011 study jointly produced by the American Society on Aging and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists concluded that missed medications contribute to as many as 125,000 deaths annually and cost the nation's health system $100 billion per year.
The American Heart Association reports that 12 percent of American adults fail to fill some prescriptions; 12 percent don't take a medication after bringing it home; 22 percent take a smaller dosage than prescribed; and nearly 30 percent stop taking their medicine before it runs out — and analysts believe that surveys underestimate non adherence because some patients lie about whether they're taking their drugs.
"It doesn't work for patients to decide for themselves what medicines they'll take, when or for how long," she says. Diabetics who reduce their insulin dose, for example, could have seizures or go into a coma. People with a stent need anti-coagulants daily. And those on blood thinners must take their drugs precisely for them to work.
The most common excuse people use to justify failing to take medications properly —"I feel fine. Why do I even need this?" The end result: a deadly toll. A 2011 study jointly produced by the American Society on Aging and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists concluded that missed medications contribute to as many as 125,000 deaths annually and cost the nation's health system $100 billion per year.
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