Side Effects – Prescription Drugs vs. Mindfulness Practices

Mindfulness practice for stress management is an effective technique and the potential side effects (improved health, better sleep, increased creativity and feeling happier) are not bad either.

This is why it perplexes me that so many individuals don’t want to try techniques like meditation but have no problem trying the latest prescription drugs that can come with some nasty side effects.

Before I go further, please don’t misunderstand me, I am not suggesting that people don’t need medications.  Everyone should talk with their doctor and do what is best for their situation…but, what I am saying is, why not try a mindfulness practice with no negative side effects and see if that helps you too.  You really have nothing to lose!

I watched a recent TED Talk by Nueroscientist Daniel Levitin in which he provided some data on a certain prescription drug that shocked me.  

The drug he discussed was a type of statin that is prescribed for high cholesterol patients and is one of the most highly prescribed drugs in the world today.  He explained two statistics in regard to this drug.

1. 300 NNT – NNT stands for Number Needed to Treat. This is the number of people who need to take a medication or go through a surgery before one person is helped.  For this particular drug an NNT of 300 means 300 people have to take it before one person is helped.
2. 5% chance drug will produce side effects – This indicates that if you take the medication you have a 5% chance that the drug’s side effects will impact you.  Some of the side effects for this particular drug include debilitating muscle and joint pain and gastrointestinal distress.

So when someone as poor in math as me hears the drug has an NNT of 300 and only a 5% chance of getting the negative side effects, the drug doesn’t sound so bad.  But if you take the time to do the math this essentially says you are 15 times more likely to be harmed by the drug then helped by it! 

For more details on this and another example in which he discusses the NNT and side effects of the most widely performed surgery for men over the age of 50, removal of the prostate for cancer, check out the clip of the Ted Talk at this link - https://youtu.be/8jPQjjsBbIc?t=6m30s. 

Wishing you success in all aspects of life,
Tom Klisiewicz
Founder and President
Smart Health Wellness and Performance

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