DALLAS – As prescriptions increase for adult aches, pains and chronic illnesses, there\u2019s been a corresponding spike in accidental poisonings in children. That\u2019s the finding of a new study in the July issue of Pediatrics magazine. It says among those at highest risk are children under age five.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Brett Roth, medical director at the North Texas Poison Center, that means parents need to do a better job of keeping the drugs out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re putting them in pill bottles or little pill boxes that are not protected, and they\u2019re just leaving them out accidentally, and so they\u2019re just finding their ways into the hands of the toddlers,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/gr-33386-1-2.png\")
The CDC reports an 80 percent increase in child accidental poisoning deaths in 2009 over 2000. Graphic: Courtesy of CDC<\/p><\/div>\n
The study also found a concerning increase in such medication poisonings among teen-agers, who are using them for recreational purposes or in attempts at self-harm.<\/p>\n
The CDC says the number of childhood deaths from accidental poisoning went up by 80 percent in the past decade.<\/p>\n
Roth said it\u2019s a trend that\u2019s likely to continue, as more Americans turn to prescriptions as their first option for any health issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve become a society of people who are searching for health solutions through poly-pharmacy, and drugs are potentially fraught with side effects and have inherent toxicities,\u201d Roth warned.<\/p>\n
More information is at goo.gl\/9qWbb<\/a> and at CDC.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n The National Institutes of Health finds 12th-graders abusing prescription and over-the counter medications. Graphic: Courtesy of NIH<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Toddlers, Teens at Highest Risk by John Michaelson DALLAS – As prescriptions increase for adult aches, pains and chronic illnesses, there\u2019s been a corresponding spike in accidental poisonings in children. That\u2019s the finding of a new study in the July issue of Pediatrics magazine. It says among those at highest risk are children under age […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web-exclusive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/gr-33386-1-1.png\")