Is Internet Access the Cause for Prescription Drug Abuse?

Prescription drug abuse by Americans is on the up rise and this trend seems to be associated to people's access to the internet and the number of shyster pharmacies in which can be located there, this according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and University Southern California. This latest report appears in the journal Health Affairs. In addition the researchers add that in the United States access to the high speed internet had increased rapidly between 2000 and 2007 and had the largest amount of people looking for treatment for prescription drug abuse.

Researchers also state that the increase in prescription narcotic painkiller abuse has gone conjointly with the emergence of online pharmacies which are constantly appearing in greater numbers. A majority of these online pharmacies sell drugs such as Oxycontin and do not even require a prescription from a physician.

Pharmacies own these internet sites which are from all over the globe. The pharmacies are selling medications such as tranquilizers, sedatives and even painkillers to United States residents.

Researchers set out about the task to conclude if there is a link between online access and prescription drug abuse. This association has been suspect before however, there was no proper study ever done until this one.

Researchers collected information from Federal Communications Commission. Researcher's first step was to assess each state and the resident's access to high speed internet from 2000 to 2007. For all intents and purposes it is hardly possible to precisely know how massively spread prescription drug abuse actually is. Researchers gathered information on admissions to substance abuse clinics and from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

Researchers discovered that each state there was a ten percent rise in availability of high speed internet and went conjointly with a one percent increase of prescription drug abuse admissions.

This increase had included the following in order narcotic painkillers, Anti-anxiety medications and stimulants.

On the flip side of the coin, addictions to substances which can not be obtained online either had very little increase or dropped. These substances would include drugs such as cocaine and heroine.

According to the 2009 US Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, it does note the delivery of controlled substances that pharmacies can not sell controlled substances unless the patient presents a prescription from a physician who actually saw the patient in person.

In November of 2009, the FDA had issued warning letters to 100 internet pharmacies in regards to selling unapproved drugs and controlled substances. It is still unknown if the action had any effect upon these pharmacies.

Alternative pain remedies are available and some of these therapies include:

Chiropractic

Chiropractic care ranks the number one choice for pain relief. Chiropractic adjustments involve moving a joint beyond its usual range of motion but not beyond the point where the joint was designed to move.

The aim of chiropractic treatments is to relieve pain and improve the bodies physical functioning. Science has determined chiropractic to be safe and effective way to aide in treatment of numerous disease and pain. The treatment for pain is not limited to the back but many other areas which include neck, knee, hip and shoulder pain, migraines, PMS symptoms, fibromylagia, RLS and even chronic daily headaches.

Indian Head Massage (Champissage)

Indian head massage does hold merit in the science community. There have been numerous studies in which have demonstrated its therapeutic values.

In the case of long term pain a study had been conducted at the Uppsala University Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. For the study 117 participants were involved with long term musculoskeletal pain which had lasted for at least three months and was not caused by a specific disease or condition. Participants at random were either placed in a massage or relaxation group.

The massage group had received six to ten massages with each session being thirty minutes in length. Massages were given at one to three times each week and on average each person received seven massages. Sessions given were based upon each individual patients pain threshold.

The relaxation group had listened to relaxation tapes twice a week for five weeks. Instructions on the tapes had included relaxing the muscle group and slow, regular breathing.

Prior to the study participants had received a questionnaire. The questions regarded their age, smoking habits, marital status and profession. Also, received was a self rated health questionnaire with rating scales for mental energy and muscle pain as compared to the control group.

Researchers had noted that the outcomes for the massage group on all levels were more effective even after the control of likely factors.

Follow-up evaluation was done after three months and all scores had returned back to where they originally where before the treatment. Researchers reasoned the cause for this was the short-term treatment. Research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness on long term pain with ongoing treatments.

There are numerous therapeutic benefits with Indian Head massage. Sources:

Soothes

A & L Chiropractic Center

Mayo Clinic