The number of prescriptions issued by family doctors has skyrocketed threefold in just fifteen years, with millions of people now committed to consuming a combination of half a dozen (or more) different pills for reducing blood pressure and sugar levels, statins, medications that strengthen bones and protect the heart.

In "Too Many Pills", doctor and author James Le Fanu examines how this progressive medicalization of people's lives now poses a significant threat to their health and well-being, responsible for a hidden epidemic of drug-induced diseases (muscle aches and stiffness, lethargy, insomnia, impaired memory, and general malaise), a sharp increase in the number of emergency hospital admissions for serious side effects, and contributing to the recently observed decline in life expectancy.

The paradoxically harmful, albeit increasingly recognizable, consequences of excessive medication are captured by the wonderful personal testimonies of readers from James Le Fanu's weekly medical column, who were forced to take unnecessary medications, weakened by their side effects - and nearly miraculous recoveries after discontinuing them.

The only solution, he argues, is for the public to take initiative. Reviewing the relevant evidence for the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of commonly prescribed drugs will enable the readers of "Too Many Pills" to ask much more probing questions about the benefits and risks of the medications they are taking.

Pages: 320, Year of Publication: 2022, Dimensions: 12.6x12.6cm