Leading demographic for prescription drugs: US children

Children were the leading growth demographic for the pharmaceutical industry in 2009, with the increase of prescription drug use among youngsters nearly four times higher than in the overall population, according to a report by Medco Health Solutions Inc (MHS.N). More than one in four insured children in the United States and nearly 30 percent of adolescents aged 10 to 19 took at least one prescription medicine to treat a chronic condition in 2009, according to an analysis of pediatric medication use conducted as part of Medco's drug trend study.

Medco is forecasting overall pharmaceutical spending to rise up to 18 percent through 2012, driven by diabetes, cancer and rheumatology treatments. Spending is expected to rise 3 percent to 5 percent this year, and 4 percent to 6 percent the next two years.

"Looking at children was the real shocker for us," Dr Robert Epstein, Medco's chief medical officer, said on a conference call from Medco's drug trend symposium in Orlando, Florida. "What's surprising is the type of drugs these kids are taking. All these adult drugs are popping up in children, which is really disturbing," Epstein said. "The obesity problem is contributing not just to diabetes but to a lot of other problems," he said, noting a 50 percent increase since 2001 in use of cholesterol lowering drugs among those aged 10 to 19, a 24 percent increase in use of blood pressure medicines, and a whopping 147 percent jump in adolescents taking heart burn and acid reflux drugs.

Girls between the ages of 10 and 19 showed the greatest jump at nearly 200 percent over nine years. "We've got to get our arms around some very fast lifestyle modification or we're going to have a real problem, having these adult illnesses show up in children who will have a changing life expectancy if they're going to be sick from a very young age," Epstein cautioned.

Among the trends was the rise in children taking antipsychotics -- powerful drugs traditionally used to treat schizophrenia, but increasingly prescribed for other conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Use of such drugs has doubled since 2001 and more than doubled for girls, according to Medco's nine-year analysis. Use of some antipsychotics has also been associated with significant weight gain and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, potentially compounding health problems.

Bonnie - from an epigenetic perspective, I shutter to think what effect this drug use will have on this generation and its offspring. This is just beyond reproach.