Are You Taking Too Many Nutritional Supplements?

Are You Taking Too Many Nutritional Supplements?

The unwanted, and potentially harmful, concurrent use of medications is sometimes called polypharmacy - and it is becoming an even bigger problem in America. Let us understand the causes of polypharmacy as follows:

The Causes of Polypharmacy

In the world of nutritional supplements, taking too many vitamins from different sources has always been a problem. Many vitamin-manufacturing companies are specialized in certain health concerns, or only selling one type of nutritional supplement. This means that the discerning health consumers are required to shop around and take vitamins from a number of different sources. Now, a problem that once only affected those Looking To Buy Nutritional Supplements is causing difficulties for people being given prescription drugs. Increasingly, patients with a number of health concerns are visiting more than one doctor for treatment and consultation. Every doctor will give their own prescription without taking into account, or even knowing about, other drugs the patient is on. This can lead to certain drugs being over-prescribed, which can cause overdose, excessive depletion of vitamins, and of course unwarranted cost. One thing over prescription will not lead to is better health.

This is why it is better to develop a coherent health regimen with your doctor and let him know of any over-the-counter drugs or nutritional supplements that you may be taking to avoid adverse reactions.

Another worrying cause of polypharmacy is the hard-hitting marketing by pharmaceutical companies of their products. Besides the millions spent on advertising, doctors sometimes receive all sorts of free vacations, consulting fees, and other not-so-subtle bribes in exchange for writing prescriptions for brand-name drugs. It is certainly true that patients can be prescribed a powerful medicine (with side effects) when the gentler approach of treatment with vitamins, nutritional supplements, or a simple change in lifestyle might be better advised. However, we should not go around cynically thinking our doctor is an over-qualified drug-pusher. In general, it is difficult for doctors to keep up with all the new products on the market, and don’t get much useful information from the pharmaceutical companies selling them, so all they can do is easily prescribe a drug that could have adverse reactions with other drugs, nutritional supplements or vitamins their patient is taken. Drugs companies very rarely test whether their newest products interact with nutritional supplements, so this problem is particularly common.

Overlooking the symptoms of polypharmacy may be risky

Because polypharmacy is poorly understood, the risks of it going unnoticed are also high. Several symptoms of polypharmacy can sometimes be confused with the aging process such as loss of appetite, decreased alertness, tiredness, depression, and decreased sexual behavior. Often, the solution delivered by doctors to these extra side effects is more medication, which only compounds the problem. Fortunately, it is becoming more common for doctors to prescribe the consumption of vitamins or nutritional supplements to deal with the side effects of medication rather than prescribing more drugs. However, while the drugs’ companies find a profit in illness, there will always be the risk of polypharmacy. So just be wary.

Topping off

It is important to try to keep your health concerns in perspective. Are they causing extreme discomfort or severely limiting your quality of life? If they are not, then it may be a good idea to consider nutritional Supplement Products Or Vitamins To Restore Optimal Health, rather than going down the expensive road of numerous heavy medications and the side effects involved. Nutritional supplements are often very effective and are designed to replace the vitamins and minerals that should be in any healthy body. Drugs are not meant to be in your body and although they can be effective, they often leave a trail of side effects in their wake. Evidently, with multiple medications come multiple side effects: some causing long-term health risks and extra problems.

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