On the heels of the discovery that one in every seven elderly filled an antidepressant prescription last year, researchers say antidepressants, sedatives lead to an increased incidence of falls.

Earlier this year, I wrote about a study from New Zealand that talked about how regular exercise among senior citizens worked wonders in preventing them from falling—the fifth leading cause of death in the developed world, believe it or not.

Here’s a study that talks about what often causes senior citizens to fall.  And the culprits just happen to be the bane of my existence:  prescription drugs, especially mood-altering prescription drugs and sleep aides.

That the study pinpointed mood-altering drugs (like anti-depressants) and sleeping pills (both over the counter and prescription) is significant because the study analyzed the reported side effects of several different classes of drugs, including (but not limited to) blood pressure medications, pain killers, diuretics, beta-blockers, and over-the-counter pain medications like aspirin and ibuprofen.   They then analyzed the occurrence of reported falls among 79,000 study participants over the age of 60 over an 11-year period and whether or not they took these drugs.

Among the nine different classes of drugs assessed, they did not find statistically significant evidence for their being linked to the elderly participants’ falls in the majority of cases.  But when they looked at sedatives, antipsychotics, and antidepressants—the side effects of which almost always include increased grogginess and drowsiness—they did find “statistically significant evidence” that there were more cases of falls when people were on these drugs.

While more research needs to be done before the University of British Columbia researchers can say definitively that it’s the drowsiness side effect that’s to blame, they really think that that’s the chief reason.  Drowsiness, obviously, leads people to be unsteady on their feet, but especially in the elderly.  As lead author and investigator Carlo Marra believes, the elderly aren’t able to metabolize these drugs in quite the same way as those younger than them, thus are even more susceptible to prescription drugs’ side effects.

The study is published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Given how many elderly people take prescription drugs in the country—an estimated one in every seven octogenarians (i.e. someone in their eighties) filled an antidepressant prescription last year—this finding is enormously significant.  And while it may not necessarily be the chief reason for why falls are the fifth leading cause of death in the developed world for the elderly, it’s at least partly the reason.  And “partly” is enough to be wholly concerned.

Fortunately, there are natural alternatives to prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can boost your mood or help you sleep.  Check out my article on the best foods for sleep, and for mood, the best supplements and activities you can do.

Source:
sciencedaily.com

Almost 1/3 of anti-depressant drug studies were not published do to their unfavorable test results, as nearly all revealed they did not work as some studies claim they have. This type of selective publication can really hurt the public which are relying on these anti-depressant drugs to help them through their depression struggle. Unfortunately, this type of secretive testing has been going on for many years as no one wants to reveal the unsuccessful results of their drugs they would much rather re-write their study to sound more favorable than it actually is.

There are literally dozens of different drug tests and reports that are either not published due to their results or were re-written to show positive results through a complicated and wordy report meant to convey different results than were actually achieved. For anyone thinking of taking an anti-depressant or looking for a way to recover from their depression you may want to consider looking into more natural remedies that are both safe and successful. Why risk taking a drug that may not even work and may cause unwanted side effects when you cannot trust the drug reports available today? This is a sad truth about Western Medicine that is now on the surface causing many patients to not only question their doctors but the medications they have been trusting for years.

For anyone suffering from depression there are many natural remedies which can be trusted and used without fear of side effects. There are many different types of herbal remedies available to help you get through your depression and the number one herb is St. John’s Wort. This is an herb extract that has been proven to be more effective than anti-depressant medications such as Prozax, Poxil and more. St. John’s Wort is not only more effective but also has fewer side effects which are two great factors to make anyone switch from their prescribed medication to a more natural resolution.

If you are looking to relieve your depression symptoms but not interested in taking drugs there are many more alternative therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, yoga and meditation, which are proven to help not only with depression symptoms but with many different issues in life. Alternative health remedies are becoming far more popular and people are beginning to see how natural remedies may be that much more effective than prescription medications and from this study they can be more trusted as well!