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http://health.msn.com/medications/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100243635&Gt1=31036
America's Most Medicated States
Prescription drug rates are highest in places where preventable chronic diseases are the norm.
By Rebecca Ruiz, Forbes
Much of the American South is ailing, with West Virginia the worst off—at least, if the rate of prescription drug use is any indication. The state filled 17.7 prescriptions per capita compared to a national average of 11.5, according to Verispan, a health care information company.
Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri also have prescription drug-use rates well above the national average.
Dr. Jane Barlow, vice president of medical strategy and clinical quality for Medco Health Solutions, one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, says there's a reason these states use more medication: Their rates of heart disease, obesity and diabetes are higher than the national average, particularly in West Virginia.
"The growth in prescription drug use," says Barlow, is driven in part by "chronic diseases that are largely preventable and are linked to lifestyle and physical activity."
Behind the Trends
In 2008, total sales for prescription drugs reached $291.5 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the previous year. Lipitor, a statin used to control cholesterol, was the top-selling drug, followed by the acid reflux medication Nexium, and Plavix, an anti-platelet agent that reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke. Sales of cardiovascular and gastroenterology medications, as well as ones that regulate central nervous system issues like seizures, depression, pain and Alzheimer's, accounted for half of all drug sales in 2008.
Verispan's data are gathered from retail pharmacies but exclude those filled by mail order, which comprised 7 percent of prescriptions filled in 2007.
The most prescribed drug to Medicare beneficiaries in West Virginia in 2007, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was lisinopril, a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure. West Virginians have higher rates of heart-disease death: 237 per 100,000 compared to a national average of 200.
And their health problems don't end there. Twelve percent of the population has diabetes, nearly 4 percent more than the average rate. Worse yet, almost 70 percent of West Virginians are obese or overweight, more than one-quarter smoke and 30 percent report having poor mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
John Law, a spokesman for the state's department of health and human services, says public health officials are attempting to improve these statistics through a number of measures, including smoking-prevention programs for teenagers, more funding of mental health facilities and promoting healthy lifestyle choices such as eating nutritious food and getting exercise.
Mental Wellness
Though physical inactivity is clearly linked to prescription drug trends, poor mental health has also influenced usage patterns: Antidepressants were the third most-popular type of drug dispensed in 2008, with $9.5 billion in sales.
The percentage of non-elderly adults who used antidepressants increased from 6 percent to 10 percent between 1996 and 2005, according to Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center who recently analyzed these trends and published the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Olfson and his co-author, Steven C. Marcus, a professor at the University Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice, found that the increase occurred regardless of gender, age, marital status, educational level and health insurance status.
Despite the increase in antidepressant use, Olfson says it's unclear if the trend indicates that more Americans are struggling with mental health issues. Rather, Olfson cites the growing acceptance of discussing and treating depression and the use of antidepressants for conditions like insomnia and back pain as factors for the increase.
Heightened awareness of certain drugs and conditions may be another explanation. In 2005, pharmaceutical companies spent $122 million on direct-to-consumer antidepressant advertising—almost four times what they spent in 1999. A 2005 study in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 55 percent of participants who requested a brand-name drug received an antidepressant; only 10 percent of patients who had similar symptoms but made no request received an antidepressant.
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Finally, fewer patients are seeing psychotherapists to resolve their mental health problems. Instead, says Olfson, "there's a greater emphasis on drugs."
That seems to be true regardless of which preventable condition is being treated.
John Law acknowledges that West Virginia's prescription rate is high, but says the combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate medication can only help improve a patient's condition.
"We're working diligently to turn that around," Law says, referring to the prevalence of chronic disease in the state. "But you don't turn that around in a year—it takes a long time."
America's Most Medicated States
Prescription drug rates are highest in places where preventable chronic diseases are the norm.
By Rebecca Ruiz, Forbes
Much of the American South is ailing, with West Virginia the worst off—at least, if the rate of prescription drug use is any indication. The state filled 17.7 prescriptions per capita compared to a national average of 11.5, according to Verispan, a health care information company.
Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri also have prescription drug-use rates well above the national average.
Dr. Jane Barlow, vice president of medical strategy and clinical quality for Medco Health Solutions, one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, says there's a reason these states use more medication: Their rates of heart disease, obesity and diabetes are higher than the national average, particularly in West Virginia.
"The growth in prescription drug use," says Barlow, is driven in part by "chronic diseases that are largely preventable and are linked to lifestyle and physical activity."
Behind the Trends
In 2008, total sales for prescription drugs reached $291.5 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the previous year. Lipitor, a statin used to control cholesterol, was the top-selling drug, followed by the acid reflux medication Nexium, and Plavix, an anti-platelet agent that reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke. Sales of cardiovascular and gastroenterology medications, as well as ones that regulate central nervous system issues like seizures, depression, pain and Alzheimer's, accounted for half of all drug sales in 2008.
Verispan's data are gathered from retail pharmacies but exclude those filled by mail order, which comprised 7 percent of prescriptions filled in 2007.
The most prescribed drug to Medicare beneficiaries in West Virginia in 2007, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was lisinopril, a generic drug used to treat high blood pressure. West Virginians have higher rates of heart-disease death: 237 per 100,000 compared to a national average of 200.
And their health problems don't end there. Twelve percent of the population has diabetes, nearly 4 percent more than the average rate. Worse yet, almost 70 percent of West Virginians are obese or overweight, more than one-quarter smoke and 30 percent report having poor mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
John Law, a spokesman for the state's department of health and human services, says public health officials are attempting to improve these statistics through a number of measures, including smoking-prevention programs for teenagers, more funding of mental health facilities and promoting healthy lifestyle choices such as eating nutritious food and getting exercise.
Mental Wellness
Though physical inactivity is clearly linked to prescription drug trends, poor mental health has also influenced usage patterns: Antidepressants were the third most-popular type of drug dispensed in 2008, with $9.5 billion in sales.
The percentage of non-elderly adults who used antidepressants increased from 6 percent to 10 percent between 1996 and 2005, according to Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center who recently analyzed these trends and published the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Olfson and his co-author, Steven C. Marcus, a professor at the University Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice, found that the increase occurred regardless of gender, age, marital status, educational level and health insurance status.
Despite the increase in antidepressant use, Olfson says it's unclear if the trend indicates that more Americans are struggling with mental health issues. Rather, Olfson cites the growing acceptance of discussing and treating depression and the use of antidepressants for conditions like insomnia and back pain as factors for the increase.
Heightened awareness of certain drugs and conditions may be another explanation. In 2005, pharmaceutical companies spent $122 million on direct-to-consumer antidepressant advertising—almost four times what they spent in 1999. A 2005 study in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 55 percent of participants who requested a brand-name drug received an antidepressant; only 10 percent of patients who had similar symptoms but made no request received an antidepressant.
Bing Search: Medications
View results for:
Finally, fewer patients are seeing psychotherapists to resolve their mental health problems. Instead, says Olfson, "there's a greater emphasis on drugs."
That seems to be true regardless of which preventable condition is being treated.
John Law acknowledges that West Virginia's prescription rate is high, but says the combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate medication can only help improve a patient's condition.
"We're working diligently to turn that around," Law says, referring to the prevalence of chronic disease in the state. "But you don't turn that around in a year—it takes a long time."
