Adult drugs are sending more and more kids to the emergency room. That's the headline from a brand new study in the current issue of Pediatrics.
Researchers in Boston tracked poisonings in children against the rising use of several adult medications and found a significant link. The list included everything from diabetes and cholesterol drugs, to pain killing opioids.
The researchers used two databases to compare monthly pediatric poisonings with the number of prescriptions written for adults from 2000 through 2009. Across all medications, the greatest risk of poisoning was among children up to age 5, followed by 13- to 19-year-olds.
Serious injuries and hospitalizations occurred most often with opioids and diabetes medications.
Despite a number of public health interventions over the past 40 years, poisonings from prescription medications clearly continue to be a major problem, and the authors hope strategies to prevent the problem can be developed and aimed at specific age groups.
I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with health information for healthier living.
Source: www.nlm.nih.gov
No comments:
Post a Comment