Sometime pharmacists pick up on potentially bad situations brewing, but many times they don't. Or if the senior deals with more than one dispensary, there are no controls at all and the possibility for danger goes unchecked. There is still much to learn about reactions between various drugs. The variety of drugs available today is enormous and the potential for side effects is so large that the various combinations are practically infinite.
These troubles are more of a concern for seniors because of their inherently weaker immune, digestive and neurological systems. Many are walking a fine line as it is without adding to the mix nasty drug side effects or adverse reactions. The potential for these problems to occur in the elderly is three times higher than in younger adults. Evidently, 17% of all hospitalizations for seniors are due to drug reactions, according to a recently published book entitled "Why Seniors are at the Greatest Risk" by Jay Cohen M.D.
In 1994, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article condemning what it referred to an "inappropriate drug prescribing" for the elderly. It listed 23 inappropriate drugs that should never be given to seniors. It turns out, according to recent studies that almost 25% of seniors are taking these inappropriate medications and that over 20% are taking 2 or more of them. No wonder so many seniors feel bad!
Incidentally, the definition used by the JAMA authors for "inappropriate" did not include those who are simply taking the wrong medication for their conditions, nor does it include seniors who are taking drugs they don't need, nor drugs in combinations that should be avoided, nor did it include problems with dosages. Inappropriate only referred to drugs that seniors simply shouldn't be given due to their aged condition.
A later review of the situation called the Beers criteria in 1997 listed 48 classes of drugs or individual medications that the elderly should avoid. The list is quite shocking. Some of the highlights are: naproxen and most non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, Demerol, Darvon, Toradol, Valium, Librium, Ativan, Prozac, Elavil, Serax, Benadryl, and the particularly evil Halcion. Who doesn't know a senior who isn't taking one or more of these drugs? The elderly are warned to avoid anti-histamines in all non-prescription and most prescription forms. The same goes for common muscle relaxants and anti-spasmodic drugs.
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