1. Anthony Don (don@cs.umd.edu) Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey on drug mentions at physician office visits by patients aged 25 years and over. Author: NCHS. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_data_for_all_ages.htm

2. Drug mentions Overall increase of the number of drug mentions per 100 population over the 1995-2004 period. The increase accelerates in 2003-2004. The contribution of specific drug classes to the overall increase is visible, especially : cardiovascular-renal drugs, pain-relief drugs, central-nervous system and metabolic/nutrient agents. Rates of drug mentions per 100 population

3. Aging population ? This suggests several hypothesis to explain these trends : - increase of severe diseases due to an aging population, - harder stress conditions - more concern about nutrition and health. Distribution of age classes across the population

4. Distribution of mentions Distribution of drug mentions across age classes People from the older age classes use a larger part of the overall mentions.