America
An apple a day may also keep the pharmacist away
New York, March 31
An apple a day will not
only keep the doctor away but may also keep the pharmacist away! This is
because apple eaters are likely to use fewer prescription medications, a
new study says.
Matthew A. Davis of the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, and co-authors analysed data from the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2008 and 2009-2010).
"Our
findings suggest that the promotion of apple consumption may have
limited benefit in reducing national healthcare spending," said Davis.
The
authors compared daily apple eaters (those who consumed at least one
small apple per day) with non-apple eaters, according to an article
published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Of the 8,399 survey
participants who completed a dietary recall questionnaire, 753 (9
percent) were apple eaters and 7,646 (91 percent) were non-apple eaters.
There
was no statistically significant difference between apple eaters and
non-apple eaters when it came to keeping the doctor away when
socio-demographic and health-related characteristics were taken into
account.
However, apple eaters had marginally higher odds of avoiding prescription medications, according to the results.
A
prescription medication is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a
medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter
drugs can be obtained without a prescription.
The authors found
no difference between apple eaters and non-apple eaters when measuring
the likelihood of avoiding an overnight hospital stay or a visit to a
mental health professional.
"In the age of evidence-based
assertions, however, there may be merit to saying 'An apple a day keeps
the pharmacist away," the study concluded.