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Since I can't get it together to post a real post these days, I've decided to go with twitter updates. Up-to-the-minute here, daily at my livejournal. Exciting!

What I'm Learning About America...

From my pharmaceutical studies, I'm beginning to realize that Americans are crazy. Seriously, there's something going on in our heads. Of the top selling drugs in 2007, 3 out of the top 10 are anti-depressants or anti-psychotics. The anti-depressants didn't surprise me that much, if you'd ask me to guess the top 10, I'd guess Cholesterol meds, allergy meds, heart meds, stomach/ibs meds, anti-depressants, and maybe a diabetes med. The anti-psychotic was an unpleasant surprise. Four of the top 25 selling medications are anti-psychotics.

Although, on the other hand, that says that people who seriously need help are getting it. I doubt there are too many people out there who see an ad for an anti-psychotic and go ask their doctor, even if they have no symptoms. I would imagine there's a small percentage of people who take anti-depressants, cholesterol meds, allergy meds, stomach/ibs meds, pain meds, etc. who may not really need medication. Maybe they really need the anti-psychotic meds!

In case anyone's interested, the top ten were:
1. Lipitor (cholesterol reducer)
2. Nexium (for heartburn)
3. Adviar (asthma)
4. Prevacid (stomach/heartburn)
5. Plavix (stops blood clots)
6. Singulair (allergy/asthma)
7. Seroquel (anti-psychotic)
8. Effexor (anti-depressant)
9. Lexapro (anti-depressant)
10. Actos (diabetes med)

(from drugs.com)

Another surprise, Viagra was number 48. I'd expected it to be higher, but I guess it has stiff competition from Cialis!!