Polypharmacy Research Paper
Introduction
The majority of people start complaining about distress and pain when getting older. Trying to recover their health, the elderly consult different doctors and take various pharmaceuticals. Very often they forget the number of the pills they have already taken or decide to take some more, if the discomfort does not pass off immediately. In such cases the problem of polyparmacy occurs.
Polypharmacy
Polypharmacy is defined as an excessive use of unnecessary medications. The research shows that elderly people take more unprescribed medications than prescribed ones. About ¼ of all cases when a person was hospitalized happened because of the overuse of pills. Of course, we got used to the fact that elderly people take more pharmaceuticans than those who are younger, but we cannot live this problem without attention. …show more content…
It is possible that they experienced side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, and the doctor considering them to be the symptoms of some other illness prescribes new ones. Maybe the patient consults a number of doctors in different hospitals. Or there might be some misunderstanding between the physician and the patient (Pervin, 2008). The appearance of a range of new medicines helps doctors to choose the best option for each client, but it is also a reason why they prescribe more drugs. Herbal therapy becomes more and more common and the drugs can be taken without consultation. It is also possible to take the same pills in different pharmacies (Wooten & Galavis, 2005).
With aging polypharmacy increases the probability of “drug interactions s and adverse drug reactions, disability and cognitive impairment, falls and fractures, malnutrition, hospitalization and institutionalization, mortality, and rising healthcare costs” (Nobili, Garattini & Mannucci,
The majority of people start complaining about distress and pain when getting older. Trying to recover their health, the elderly consult different doctors and take various pharmaceuticals. Very often they forget the number of the pills they have already taken or decide to take some more, if the discomfort does not pass off immediately. In such cases the problem of polyparmacy occurs.
Polypharmacy
Polypharmacy is defined as an excessive use of unnecessary medications. The research shows that elderly people take more unprescribed medications than prescribed ones. About ¼ of all cases when a person was hospitalized happened because of the overuse of pills. Of course, we got used to the fact that elderly people take more pharmaceuticans than those who are younger, but we cannot live this problem without attention. …show more content…
It is possible that they experienced side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, and the doctor considering them to be the symptoms of some other illness prescribes new ones. Maybe the patient consults a number of doctors in different hospitals. Or there might be some misunderstanding between the physician and the patient (Pervin, 2008). The appearance of a range of new medicines helps doctors to choose the best option for each client, but it is also a reason why they prescribe more drugs. Herbal therapy becomes more and more common and the drugs can be taken without consultation. It is also possible to take the same pills in different pharmacies (Wooten & Galavis, 2005).
With aging polypharmacy increases the probability of “drug interactions s and adverse drug reactions, disability and cognitive impairment, falls and fractures, malnutrition, hospitalization and institutionalization, mortality, and rising healthcare costs” (Nobili, Garattini & Mannucci,