Round one in 5 adults between the ages of 40 to 79 is taking 5 or extra pharmaceuticals, according to data from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. And the older sufferers are, the extra possible it’s they’re taking much more drugs.
However taking many medicines concurrently, identified amongst medical consultants as polypharmacy, will increase individuals’s threat of experiencing extreme negative effects and drug interactions, stated Dr. Nina Blachman, an affiliate professor of medication and geriatrics on the N.Y.U. Grossman College of Drugs.
Research present that taking a number of drugs is related to a sooner decline in memory in some sufferers with delicate cognitive impairment, and with a better threat of falls amongst individuals with stability issues or weakened muscle mass. And sure mixtures of medicine can result in extreme bleeding, dangerously low blood sugar or different severe issues that result in a whole lot of older adults being hospitalized day by day.
Whereas medicines might be essential for enhancing our high quality of life, you will need to perceive how individuals find yourself taking too many medication unnecessarily and when to ask for assist trimming your prescription listing.
How prescriptions can pile up
As individuals age, they develop extra well being points equivalent to diabetes, coronary heart illness, arthritis and hypertension, and “find yourself on an increasing number of drugs,” Dr. Blachman stated. Many are by no means taken off the medication they’ve been prescribed for years, even when they not want them or if there are newer formulations out there that may deal with completely different signs concurrently.
Sufferers typically additionally see quite a lot of medical suppliers, every of whom might prescribe remedy with out essentially speaking with each other.
Generally medical professionals might prescribe medication to deal with the negative effects of one other remedy, in what docs seek advice from as a “prescription cascade.” For instance, individuals who take sure over-the-counter ache medicines known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication might expertise a rise in blood stress, which docs might misdiagnose as a brand new ailment and prescribe calcium channel blockers as a remedy. However in some individuals, these blood stress medication can result in ankle swelling, which can then result in a prescription for a diuretic to scale back fluid buildup within the physique.
