This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30411246
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| England 'nation of pill-poppers' | England 'nation of pill-poppers' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Half of women in England are now regularly taking prescription drugs, according to the comprehensive Health Survey for England. | |
| Meanwhile 43% of men are taking at least one prescription medication. | Meanwhile 43% of men are taking at least one prescription medication. |
| Cholesterol-lowering statins, pain relief and anti-depressants were among the most prescribed medicines. | Cholesterol-lowering statins, pain relief and anti-depressants were among the most prescribed medicines. |
| The report, by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), showed an average of 18.7 prescriptions per person in England in 2013. | |
| The cost to the NHS was in excess of £15bn-a-year. All the figures exclude contraceptives and smoking cessation products. | |
| Nearly a third of prescriptions were for cardiovascular disease with more than 65 million prescriptions for tackling high blood pressure, heart failure or cholesterol levels. | |
| Simvastatin - which lowers cholesterol - was the single most prescribed item with 40 million prescriptions. | |
| Lose weight to avoid drugs | |
| Dr Jennifer Mindell, one of the report's authors at University College London, said: "This is the first nationally-representative study to report on the use of prescribed medicines taken by people in the community, not just those within the healthcare system. | |
| "That half of men over 65 are taking cholesterol-lowering medicines reflects the high risk of cardiovascular disease in this group. | |
| "Stopping smoking, being a healthy weight, eating more vegetables and fruit, and being physically active reduce people's risk of these diseases, for people who want to avoid taking medicines." | |
| Antidepressants were taken by more than one in ten women - double the figure for men. | |
| The drugs were most commonly taken by middle-aged women and those from deprived areas - 17% of the poorest women took antidepressants compared with 7% of the richest. | |
| Dr Sarah Jackson, at University College London, commented: "It's well known that rates of depression are much higher among women than men, so I am not surprised to see that antidepressant use follows the same pattern in this study. | |
| "People with depression are less likely to be in regular employment, and people who are unemployed or in low paid jobs are more likely to have depression." | |
| Obesity | |
| The heavier people were, the more likely they were to need prescription drugs. | |
| More than half of severely obese people in England reported taking at least one prescribed medicine and a third took at least three. | |
| Sue Faulding, a pharmacist and programme manager of prescribing and primary care services at the HSCIC, said: "Obesity is often associated with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, joint pain and depression. | |
| "Lifestyle changes are always recommended in the first instance, but medicines can help to address the symptoms and this study shows that medicine use increases steadily with body mass index." |