Facts about Medications and the Elderly

Facts about Medications and the Elderly

- Older Americans comprise about 13% of the population but they consume over 30% of all prescription drugs.

It is estimated that 30% of the older population taking medications have had an adverse drug reaction.

- Up to 20% of hospital admissions for the elderly are due to adverse drug reactions.

- It is estimated that over half of the deaths attributed to adverse drug reaction are for people age 60 and above.

- The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported that if adverse drug reactions were classified as a disease it would rank as the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.

A main difficulty with medical treatment for the elderly is the huge number of prescription medications the regular older person is captivating. On average a person over age 75 has five prescription drug medications and is using no less than two over-the-counter medications as well is enchanting herbal supplements. Owing to impaired capability to "clear" medications from the body, suggested dosages of recommendation drugs are usually too much for older people. This can result in over-dosage and drug reaction and in some cases even death. The medical society is well aware of this trouble, but discovery the right dosage is over and over again a difficulty for the reason that drug reactions are over and over again masked by symptoms of the numerous chronic medical problems most elderly bear. In adding up older people over and over again don't be acquainted with or they be unsuccessful to account drug reactions. One huger problem is that the most important care provider may not be conscious of all of the prescriptions being taken and some of these drugs may be causing interaction with each other. Finally, many elderly either over-dose or under-dose or fail to take medications.

The majority ordinary difficulty with medications is that the doctor or the pharmacist may not be conscious that a patient is captivating a number of drugs prescribed by other doctors. Many older patients continue prescriptions with a number of doctors and specialists and no one doctor, not even the primary care physician, often knows the number or extent of medications being taken. Add onto this the fact that the elderly are most likely consuming a variety of over-the-counter medications as well as herbal supplements and it is not surprising to see the large number of adverse drug reactions and hospitalizations and deaths due to drug reactions among the elderly.

Elderly people also often fail to adhere to proper dosage and frequency of dosage with their medications. Some will take more pills than prescribed because they think more is better and will cure the condition faster. Others have a noncompliant attitude towards medical treatment in general and often refuse to take any drugs prescribed for them. Many are confused or have memory problems and aren't even aware they have taken pills or need to take pills. Oversight and administration of medications by a responsible person is an extremely important duty for caregivers of the elderly.

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