47% represents the percentage of medication used by the elderly that could be thrown away without any harm to their health, according to an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and reported in Reader's Digest 2011.

Dr. Cherniawski's comment: Ask yourself these questions before taking a medication, prescription or over-the-counter:

1. Will this medicine fix my health problem or merely mask the symptoms?
2. Will this medicine improve my health?
3. What is the risk of taking this medicine, will it produce un-intended side effects that may require additional medication?
4. Is there a natural solution to the problem I am experiencing?

While there are exceptions to every rule, in general, medicine does not fix anything, rather, it merely masks the symptoms you have. If you have a headache, for example, pain relieving medication may reduce the pain but it DOES NOT correct the cause of the headache. Likewise, if you have high blood pressure, blood pressure medication may lower the pressure but it DOES NOT correct the cause of the high blood pressure. In addition, all medications have side-effects, whether you feel the side-effect or not, that worsen your health over time. This often leads to additional medication and deteriorating health.

Finally, I strongly believe there are natural solutions to all, if not most, health problems.  Here's what a person should be doing to maintain health:

1. Eat a diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables and drink filtered water.
2. Exercise 20 minutes daily.
3. Take a high quality whole food supplement and omega-3 fish oil.
4. Take other supplements for your specific health needs.
5. Get natural healthcare from a chiropractor, acupuncturist, or naturopathic doctor.

There are a variety of natural, safe, effective, affordable things you can do to improve your health and a variety of non-drug, non-surgical, natural healthcare professionals who can help.

Please consider consider consulting our office when you need help.

For more information: www.LifeAlignWellness.com.

According to the Archives of Internal Medicine, 20% of elderly Americans are prescribed drugs that could potentially harm their bodies.

The study was conducted to determine how many drugs on the “Beers List” are used in clinical practice. The Beers List is a list of medications that should be avoided by people over 65.

Researchers collected data on prescriptions filled for all patients over 65 who filed claims in 1999 with a national pharmaceutical benefit manager.

Of the 765,423 elderly patients who had filled at least one prescription in 1999, researchers discovered that 20% of patients received prescriptions for ONE drug from Beers list, 15% received prescriptions for TWO or more prohibited drugs, and 4% received prescriptions for THREE or more prohibited drugs.

Forty-one percent of prescriptions were for psychotropic drugs, 25% were for antidepressants (amitriptyline and doxepin) and anti-anxiety (ValiumR) — all of which contribute to kidney disease in the elderly.

“People over 65 who are in good health don’t realize their kidneys don’t function as well and they don’t metabolized drugs as well as they did when they were younger,” he said.

Shulman noted that doctors should pay more attention to the potential toxicity of the medications prescribed to older people.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, August 2004; Forbes, www.forbes.com, August 2004.