The Future of Aging
Prescription medicines
About 90 percent of Americans over age 65 take at least one prescription medication daily, and the majority takes two or more. It is very important to understand all the different aspects that come into play when prescribing medications and determining how effective they are. It is also critical that medication effectiveness, dosage differences and drug interactions be discussed with elderly patients.
Adverse reactions to medications are very common in the elderly. Some can be attributed to the many anatomic and physiologic changes that occur with normal aging, but it is conceivable that the elderly are more likely to experience adverse drug reactions because of their increased exposure to medications. An estimated 3-10 percent of all hospital admissions for elderly patients are due to adverse drug effects. Therefore, it is important that clinical drug studies include people 65 years and older to further our understanding and increase treatment efficacy in the elderly.