Great article about polypharmacy, the taking of multiple medications, typically four or more, at the same time from @TheConversationUS
As people age, medications might not be needed or patients might not be taking them, or less than prescribed.
Personally, every so often, we do a "medication holiday" where we test the efficacy of the drug regimen I am on, to get the maximum result with the least drug
🔗 Boomers have a drug problem, but not the kind you might think ·
@paul@TheConversationUS My 80+ year old uncle was told he had #dementia and lived with that for about a year. Then the number of meds he was taking were reduced and the 'dementia' disappeared. Too many meds, or the wrong meds, turns out to be a common cause of 'dementia' in people. If that's a diagnosis that comes up fairly suddenly, have a chat with your #pharmacist before panicking.
Maybe THIS is the reason why he's been so erratic and unhinged lately....nah, that's just his real personality, but I can't lie, it sure is funny to think about Elon on LSD running around Xhitter's offices looking like this:
#Tobacco and #alcohol are similarly harmful (middling) in comparison to other drugs, and similarly habit-forming (highly). Yet Western society treats them really differently. In recent decades we've managed to change attitudes to tobacco and cut down use, both quite dramatically, without banning the sale of tobacco. But there is no political will to do likewise with alcohol, even though unlike tobacco it is a strongly contributing factor to violent crime and homelessness.
“It is much more difficult to have serious discussions of alternative systems if we work under the illusion that government-granted patent monopolies are somehow the free market.“ @DeanBaker13
NEW: 2023 Is San Francisco’s Deadliest Year on Record for Drug Overdoses
Last Thursday San Francisco’s chief medical examiner released the city’s updated overdose death count — 752 so far — making 2023 the worst year on record for drug-related fatalities.
As fatal overdoses swelled, so did cases involving fentanyl, which was a factor in more than 81% of overdose deaths this year. That statistic is up from 70% in 2022, and 74% in 2021.
Nearly one-third of those people were listed as having no fixed address. Later that day, a crowd gathered at Civic Center Plaza to remember more than 420 who died in the city while experiencing homelessness this year.
Those who received the $750 monthly #stipend were less likely to remain #unsheltered and closer to having enough #money to meet all of their #basicNeeds as compared to a control group who accessed usual #homeless services.
More importantly, the initial findings dispels this #myth that people will use money for #illicit purposes.
Only about 2% of the $750 per month was spent on #alcohol, #cigarettes, or #drugs; the majority of that money was spent on cigarettes.