America Is Overmedicating Children
America is over-medicating its children. Recently, the studies and the reports have shown that there is a great increase in the usage of prescription as well as nonprescription drugs within the American children. There are three main classes of drugs being used on the children; psychotropic drugs, antibiotics and asthma medications. Why are the drugs being used on the children in increasing rates? Has there been an increase in these illnesses, or are these drugs being used without a reason. There are three main areas of concern on which the paper will concentrate.
Antibiotics
These are the first kind of medications that were used on a wider scale. Penicillin is an important example. Since the 1940s, when the drug was released in the market, the advantages as well as the pitfalls of usage have been seen (United States Congress House Of Representatives, 2010, p. 56). It was observed that average lifespan of a person was increased by 8 years by the antibiotics. But the pitfall is the development of an increased resistance in the bacteria. The American children have been prescribed this drug for many years. Based on the great disadvantages that the drugs pose, there has been a slight decrease in the rates of antibiotic prescription to the children.
2. Asthma Medication
Within the last two decades, there has been a great increase in the number of children diagnosed with asthma, thus an increase in children being prescribed asthma medication. There is a growing belief within the scientists that the rise in asthma is due to an acierated use of antibiotics. The antibiotics are known to fight against bacteria and when used, it is seen that pathogenic as well as normal flora of bacteria is harmed. It has negative effects on a normal person's ability to resist changes in the environment and the body (Longoria, 2000, p. 45). This is also the reason of an increase in the allergies that cause asthma. Thus an over usage of one kind of medication had led to the over usage of another kind. Another lobby has argued that total cleaning of the body with medications has also led to a great decrease in the ability of the…
Sample Source(s) Used
References
Longoria, B.I. (2000). Are We Overmedicating America's Children?: Methylphenidate Consumption: a Twenty Year Analysis. Stanford University.
Patton, S. (2011). Don't Fix Me; I'm Not Broken: Changing Our Minds about Ourselves and Our Children. O Books.
United States Congress House Of Representatives. (2010). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder -- Are We Overmedicating Our Children? BiblioGov.
Warner, J. (2011). We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication. Penguin Group USA.
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Introduction
According to a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 10,000 children could be receiving psych stimulant medication, e.g., Methylphenidate referred to as Ritalin. This report lead was reported by among others, the media indicates that children are being overmedicated, because of mainly the notably high numbers (Insel). Also, a study by the University of Florida