Too Many Meds for Us Older Folks

 

In a recent study of 422 adults with early signs of dementia, 55% were regularly taking six or more prescription medications. “Many drugs may be especially harmful to older adults with cognitive impairment, such as benzodiazepines, used to treat anxiety, and oxybutynin, used to treat urinary incontinence. These drugs have sedating effects that increase the risk of delirium and can worsen dementia,” said study author Matthew Growdon, MD, an aging research fellow at the San Francisco VAMC and the University of California San Francisco’s Division of Geriatrics. In addition to adverse interactions and outcomes, overprescribing of medications (polypharmacy) also contributes to challenges with adherence, since more complicated medication regimens require more time and attention, and increase the potential for making mistakes and inadvertent misuse.

Of particular concern is the administration of drugs to elderly residents of nursing homes and elder care facilities primarily for the purpose of keeping them sedated and easier to mange. Often the problem arises because a patient is seeing several different medical providers and none of them communicate with the others regarding prescriptions. Often, a pharmacist will catch a problem, but only if someone obtains all of their prescriptions from the same pharmacy.

In addition to making dementia worse, drug interactions can have many other serious health effects.

The researchers advise reviewing all the medications that you or a loved one may be taking with your primary healthcare provider on a regular basis. I can personally attest the the effectiveness of this. In the case of my mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's, she had been taking 13 different prescription medications. After a review with a new primary care physician, she was taking only 3.

Don't assume that your doctor or pharmacist is aware of every medication that you are taking. Make certain that they are.