I saw an interesting article in the Guardian newspaper health section on Tuesday 15th March titled "Drug Culture: How have prescriptions changed over the last 20 years, and what does this tell us about our health?"
Top 5 Drugs Prescribed in England in 2011
1. Simvastatin
2. Aspirin
3. Levothyroxine Sodium
4. Ramipril
5. Bendroflumethiazide
Top 5 Drugs Prescribed in England in 1991
1. Salbutamol
2. Amoxicillin
3. Paracetamol
4. Co-proxamol
5. Beclometasone
So 20 years ago if you went to your GP, you would be most likely to receive an inhaler or an antibiotic whereas today, treatments for hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia are the most common. Simvastatin is the most commonly prescribed medication and approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK are on a statin. When statins were first introduced, they were only given to patients with very high cholesterol however now they are started in patients with lower cholesterol levels. Statins have definitely had a positive impact on atherosclerotic vascular disease over the past 20 years, however they still have undesireable side effects and are not suitable for all patients.
The incidence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and healthcare associated infections has increased over the past 20 years and this has led to a major change in the way which antibiotics are prescribed. Antibiotics now only make it to number 14 on the list of commonly prescribed drugs in 2011. Other major differences have been in prescribing of paracetamol and levothyroxine. Looking ahead to the next 20 years, it is predicted that whilst treatments for blood pressure and heart failure will remain high, drugs used to treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimers disease may overtake them as the most commonly prescribed medications if there are significant breakthroughs in the treatment of these diseases.
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