Ameri​can Kids Incre​asing​ly Medic​ated

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Ameri​can Kids Incre​asing​ly Medic​ated


The Drugging of Our Children (Trailer)


The Drugging of our Children (Gary Null Full Feature 1 hr 43 min)





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Children increasingly medicated: study
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Mon Nov 3, 2008

http://www. reuters. com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4A20HW20081103?f...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - More and more U.S.
children are being given drugs to fight chronic conditions such as asthma and hyperactivity, according to a study published on Monday

From 2002 to 2005 prescriptions for medicines to treat type-2 diabetes doubled, asthma medications rose by more than 46 percent, medicines for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder increased by more than 40 percent and prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs were up by 15 percent

The study was conducted by Emily Cox of Express Scripts Inc. in St. Louis, a manager of pharmacy insurance benefit plans, Dr. Donna Halloran of the Pediatric Research Institute in St.
Louis, and Douglas Mager of the Kansas Health Institute in Topeka

In a report published in the November issue of Pediatrics, they said the increases could mean that chronic conditions are on the rise

But they said the trend could also reflect other factors such as changes in the way doctors prescribe drugs and better screening that identifies more chronic conditions

In addition, the team said federal programs that encouraged research on pediatric drugs resulted in "increased data on safety and efficacy in children (that) likely provided physicians with a greater degree of confidence to prescribe (such drugs)"

The findings were based on insurance claims for 3.
2 million children aged 5 to 19

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Number of kids on medication jumps alarmingly
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By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY
Nov 3, 2008

http://www. usatoday. com/news/health/2008-11-03-kids-meds_N. htm?c...

The number of children who take medication for chronic diseases has jumped dramatically, another troubling sign that many of the youngest Americans are struggling with obesity, doctors say
The number of children who take pills for type 2 diabetes — the kind that's closely linked to obesity — more than doubled from 2002 to 2005, to a rate of six out of 10,000 children.
That suggests that at least 23,000 privately insured children in the USA are now taking diabetes medications, according to authors of the new study in today's Pediatrics

Doctors also saw big increases in prescriptions for high cholesterol, asthma and attention deficit and hyperactivity.
There was smaller growth for drugs for depression and high blood pressure

"We've got a lot of sick children," says author Emily Cox, senior director of research with Express Scripts, which administers drug benefit programs for private insurance plans.
"What we've been seeing in adults, we're also now seeing in kids"

Type 2 diabetes was once known as adult-onset.
But Cox says her records show kids as young as 5 being treated with prescription diabetes drugs

Cox based her study on prescription records of nearly 4 million children a year, ages 5 to 19, covered by Express Scripts.
She says her findings may not apply to the 40% of children who are uninsured or covered by government health plans

Unless these children make major changes — such as eating healthier and exercising more — they could be facing a lifetime of illness, Cox says

"These are not antibiotics that they take for seven to 10 days," Cox says.
"These are drugs that many are taking for the rest of their lives"

Cox couldn't explain one surprising finding: Most of the increase in drugs for diabetes, attention deficit/hyperactivity and depression was seen in girls.
The gender gap was most striking in diabetes: While the number of boys taking medication grew by 39%, the number of girls using them climbed by 147%, Cox found


A report from 2006


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More Kids Taking Medication; Obesity Blamed
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Greater Numbers of Children Being Treated for Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol

WebMD
By Bill Hendrick
Nov 3, 2008

http://www. webmd. com/parenting/news/20081103/more-kids-taking-med...

WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD Nov.
3, 2008 -- Drug therapy is increasingly being used to treat children and teens with obesity-related health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and depression, a new study shows

In addition, more children and teens between 5 and 19 are taking drugs for asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which aren't related to obesity, say scientists at St.
Louis University in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics

"The main message of our study is that we are using chronic medication a lot more than we used to," Donna Halloran, MD, a professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University, tells WebMD.
"We know obesity causes other medical complications, like diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, and depression"

Chronic Medications for Kids: The Upside
Though there is no known link between obesity and ADHD, pediatricians are increasingly choosing drug therapy for it, too, she says

"More medication use is not bad," Halloran tells WebMD. "Better diagnosis for all these things is good. High blood pressure needs to be treated.
Asthma also, and diabetes and depression"

Robert Geller, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, tells WebMD it's likely more youngsters are taking drugs for ADHD because "there's been a reduction in the stigma" associated with those conditions

"Now people are more willing to admit it and get appropriate help," he says

The study doesn't answer whether asthma severity and incidence are related to increasing obesity among young people, he says, but the problems seem to have some overlap

Halloran and colleagues studied prescription claims data for more than 3.
5 million commercially insured youngsters between 5 and 19, covering the period 2002 to 2005

During that period, the prevalence rate for diabetes medicines among those youngsters doubled, and asthma medication use jumped 46.5%, the study shows. Drug use to combat ADHD rose 40.
4%, and 15% for medications to lower lipids and cholesterol

"We are seeing more disease, better detection of disease, and more use of medication," she says.
"We don't know the risks for long-term medication use, but better diagnosis is a good thing"

Scientists don't know if there's a link between obesity and ADHD or obesity and asthma, she says, and "we don't know whether obesity causes depression or vice versa.
But a tie-in would make sense".