Unfortunately, as we all age our bodies start to grow old with us. Arthritis kicks in, consitpation, diarrhea, our hearts get worn, our kidneys get tired, we forget important things. In this day and age there seems to be a medication for everything and a commercial for all of them. Our doctors don’t seem hesitant to prescribe a battery of medications for our high blood pressure and cholesterol, for our bloating, and for our digestive issues. Those medications cause your hands to shake and you have dry mouth? Here’s another medication for your side effects. Can’t remember to take all those meds, don’t worry, you’ll get sent home with a giant med box and another medication for memory. Because as we age our health seems to worsen, the elderly are at particular risk for not only polypharmacy, but also more vulnerable to the associated risks that come along with polypharmacy.
As we age, we seem to lose all the important mechanisms we need for medication regulation. We increase our subcutaneous fat and decrease our lean muscle mass, therefore increasing our risk of toxicity with a drug. Our blood protein, albumin, which is important to many medications as they bind with albumin, drops. This results in a higher concentration of drug floating freely in the blood. This also increases our risk of toxicity.
Here is a very informative power point presentation about polypharmacy and the elderly, check it out. coa.kumc.edu/GEC/password/PowerPointPresentations/Polyphar.ppt
Dangers of Polypharmacy 