Antidepressant and diabetes drugs prescriptions rise

The latest data for England shows prescriptions for antidepressants and drugs to tackle diabetes have gone up.

But doctors are giving out fewer antibiotics, the Health and Social Care Information Centre report suggests.

Figures show that more than one billion prescriptions were issued by doctors and other health staff in 2015 - more than double compared to a decade ago.

And for the ninth year in a row, diabetes drugs cost the most to the NHS - at £2.6m per day.

'Persistent trend'

Antidepressants were also high on the list costing the NHS £780,000 per day.

Vicki Nash, at the mental health charity Mind, said prescriptions issued for depression have been on a persistent and upward trend for many years.

She added: "It may be that more people are coming forward and seeking help, or that doctors are getting better at spotting the symptoms of mental health problems, but these are unlikely to be the only reasons.

"It is vital we better understand exactly how many people are taking antidepressants, for how long and whether they are receiving other treatment alongside medication, as recommended in NICE guidance."

The charity said that while cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling were becoming more widely available, talking therapies were still not available to everyone who needed them.

The figures show prescriptions for antibacterial medicines - mainly antibiotics - fell by more than 5% compared with 2014.

The HSCIC report looked at the number of items written on prescriptions (such as courses of antibiotics) that were given out by doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists over the last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-36713129

I know the ever increasing numbers diagnosed with diabetes is adding to the increase in drug prescribing but DUK must shoulder some of the responsibility for their dire dietary advice and their recent support for the eat well guide which  has added even more carbs

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/New-Eatwell-Guide-from-Public-Health-England/

I suffered from "depression" for years. The old tricyclic drugs worked well, but had funky side effects. SSRIs didn't work well, and then only temporarily. Venlafaxine worked nearly as well as the tricyclics but without side effects (for me - it can be dire for others).

Guess what? yet another thing low carb fixed. 

In retrospect the cause was my reactive hypoglycemia - a lack of first phase insulin meant my BG jumped up after eating carbs, then the second phase insulin turned up late, and failed to shut off when no longer required.

Not only genuine hypos but a rapid drop in BG causes the body to produce glucagon, and when that is insufficient to raise the BG it generates cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, hence the symptoms.

I have to wonder how many other people suffering from "depression" are actually suffering from rapid changes in BG. This appears to be yet another "epidemic" which like obesity, diabetes and a whole bunch of other things, suddenly started with the adoption of low fat diets. Come to that I wonder about the effects of lack of fat on cell membranes and neuroreceptors, especially when the majority of the fat is Omega 6s.