Drug Overdoses Rise Among Young Adults In The U.S.

According to the Trust for America's Health report, drug overdose deaths among teens and young adults have increased rapidly in the US. The death rate due to drug overdose has increased exponentially among people between the ages of 12 to 25, in the past decade. The death rate has risen from 3.1 deaths per 100,000 in 1999-2001 to 7.3 deaths in 2011-2013.

According to Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health (a non-profit health advocacy group) the deaths are increasing due to the nation's epidemic of prescription drug abuse, and a subsequent rise in heroin use. Both of these epidemics are hugely responsible for the drastic increase in deaths. The toll of deaths from drug overdose is increasing in specific corners of the nation. The report states, West Virginia had the highest rate of drug overdoses while North Dakota had the lowest.

According to the trust's new “Reducing Teen Substance Misuse: What Really Works” report published in the year 2013, prescription painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin were mainly responsible for most of the drug overdoses, resulting in 22,700 deaths overall.  Many young adults who were using prescription drugs switched to heroin because it’s cheaper and easily accessible.

“About 45% of people who use heroin are also addicted to painkillers.”

The drug overdose death rate for young adults between 19-25 years old is 12.7% per 100,000, whereas kids 12-18 years of age, the death rates are 1.6% per 100,000.

The unexpected jump in death rates in these two age groups is really dramatic, according to Levi. These stats raise the need for early drug intervention, to prevent kids from drug abuse and addiction.

How To Stop Drug Abuse?

The real key to sustaining a sober life in the US is to address the root cause of drug abuse and support the well being of young adults. The one thing that can be done is to change the strategy from drug intervention to drug prevention and promote sober living in America.

A change needs to be made because more and more young adults are becoming addicted to substances, especially opiates. This can be done by advising adults to use free prescription discount cards to buy their prescription medicines.   

Beware Of Buying Your Medicines Online

The internet enables consumers to buy all sorts of products online, including over the counter medicines and prescription medicines. Some sites are legitimate. However, there are some sites that don’t follow FDA rules, which means if you order from that site, you have the risk of buying fake, poor quality, out-of-date, or unsafe medicines. So if you’re going to buy your medicines online, make sure to consider these factors:

• Talk to your health-care provider to know whether a particular medicine is suitable for you.
• If you want to buy your medicines online, ask your healthcare provider to recommend you some online pharmacies.
• Avoid websites that offer to sell you prescription medicines without a prescription.

Why People Buy Their Medicines Online?

People prefer to buy their medications online as they can buy medicines there at lesser prices. However, some of them receive counterfeit medicines as they’ve ordered medicines from non-legitimate websites. So if you don’t want to be in a trap of these non-legitimate sites, make sure to do proper research about the site from where you’re going to order your website. However, you can also buy medicines at cheap prices from various pharmacies. For this, you just need to show a free prescription discount card to your pharmacist while buying your medicines. These free Rx are free to download.

Free Prescription Discount Cards

Saving on prescription medications has never been easier in the US. But by using free Rx cards, you can save up to 70-85% on your prescription medicines. These cards offer discounts on most of the FDA approved generic as well as brand-name drugs.  The cards are perfect to use for over-the-counter drugs, prescription medicines, and medical supplies if prescribed by a doctor in the form of prescription. You can also use these cards to get a discount on your pet medicines.  The Rx cards are accepted at over 50,000 pharmacies nationwide.

4 Safety Tips To Stop Taking Your Medications

Did you know that stopping your medications abruptly may not only worsen your health conditions but can also lead to potential side-effects or withdrawal symptoms? Many people stop taking medications to save on monthly health care cost. If you’re one of them, make sure to follow these tips to avoid any mishap.

   
   Consult your doctor first – Depending on your drug treatment, discontinuing your medication abruptly can lead to many side effects and can worsen your health condition. So it’s better to consult your doctor whether you need to stop taking a drug or need to continue it for some more time. 

   
    Discuss your medications with your doctor – Approximately 40% of people above the age of 60 take at least five prescription drugs in a day, including medications they no longer need. Some medications including:

a. Allergy medication are required during spring or fall season.

b.  Sleeping pills should be taken for short time period,

c.  Blood pressure medication should be stopped when it is at a normal range.

d.  Painkiller medications – do you still need a stronger one or you can take a milder one?

It can be any reason to discontinue your medication. But ensure discontinue your medication if your doctor is okay with it.

    
     Chart your discontinuation plan –You may need to stop or switch drugs due to lack of effectiveness or its side-effects. So if you’re switching your drug, you can do it immediately or you can start the newer one at a lower dose while slowly tapering off the first drug. However, make sure to consult with your doctor, especially if your drugs are from different classes. Make sure to ask your doctor about these:

a.  How long you need to take the drug?

b. Your daily dose and schedule

c. Expected outcomes

d. Common side effects, including if the drug is abruptly stopped

e. Cost of your drug and its generic availability

    
    Ask your doctor about your medications – You can discontinue some medicines immediately without any discontinuation plan. But there are many medications that need a taper i.e., slow reduction of dose. Tapers will help to avoid the side-effects that you might experience due to discontinuity of medications abruptly. If you still face some side-effects then make sure to consult with your doctor.

     

     Whatever your reason maybe, but most of the people discontinue their medications due to increasing cost of prescription drugs. To save your money, you can use prescription discount cards. These cards will help you to save up to 80% of your money on generic medications. You can click here for Free Rx Card Download