A Day in the Life : A Pill
It’s about time we take a look into the fabulous life of these mini magicians. The majority of the US population is wetting their palate with at least one prescription daily. Our friends at the Mayo Clinic are throwing these numbers out there:
“Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Twenty percent of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings, published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.”
20% of the population take five prescriptions more ……DAILY! Breakfast anyone?
These oval escapes from reality have instilled themselves into Americans daily routine and their presence is only growing. So what happens when we rattle out one of these bad boys and pop em in our mouth?
Lets take a look, here’s and awesome visual adventure of what really happens when your taking a anti-inflammatory:
The animations were cool but I think that the British narration is what really brings it all together. If someone was telling me that Twinkies were the cure to cancer I’d tell them to go pound salt (sea salt….I’m not a monster) , if that someone had a British accent I’d drop what I’m doing and join Tallahassee on his noble Zombieland conquest.
Pretty interesting journey, obviously the way that a certain medication is administered will affect it’s delivery through the body. Interesting highlight, only 68% of aspirin molecules (taken orally) will make it to the blood stream, each pass through the liver decreases the medications potency until it is finally all converted to water soluble molecules and filtered out through the kidneys.
What this video doesn’t address are the potential affects anti-inflammatory’s and antibiotics have on our bodies and the bacteria that call it home. They have been known to increase gut permeability, alter the gut flora, and increase the risk of gastric ulcers and intestinal bleeding. Studies show that they can decrease a protein (prostaglandin) that helps keep the gut lining strong, this can open up the opportunity for bad bacteria and pathogens to sneak through, initiating a immune response.
Medications and antibiotics have also shown a damming affect on you gut Flora(bacteria) as well. Antibiotics are generally prescribed from doctors pretty leniently these days, gone are the time’s that a general care physician spends a significant amount of time with patients, most visits typically consist of under 15 minutes of patient-to-doctor face time. Not really enough time to diagnose whether a patient has a bacterial or viral condition, so to make sure their covered they prescribe a generic antibiotic that will kill all bacteria (good and bad) and open up the possibility of side affects. If its viral, the antibiotic will have no impact in aiding your recovery and your immune system will be left fighting it off, typically over a span of a few days to a week (thus showing why there is no cure for the common cold). When you gut Flora communities are suddenly wiped out from a medication(s) the opportunity arises for bad species to gain a stronghold in your gut.
70% of American take part in this daily ritual with no regard for the bigger picture affects a medication has on their body. Another problem? Just pop another pill…… once again bringing us to this well balanced breakfast:
Next time you visit your doctor ask about the possible side affects that your medication(s) are putting on your body, put them on the spot. If they can’t answer, go get a second opinion, be persistent, ask about possible natural ways to achieve the medications results. You might as well learn about the substances that your putting inside your most valuable asset each day.
