Be Aware of Mixing Some Common Prescriptions
When more than one medical condition is treated at the same time, the medication taken for one condition can sometimes make another one worse. This is true of both prescription and over-the-counter medications. Though anyone can inappropriately mix medications, the elderly are most at risk.
About three out of four older Americans have multiple chronic health conditions, and more than 20 percent of them are being treated with drugs that work at odds with each other.
Recently researchers in Connecticut and Oregon conducted one of the first studies focusing on the issue of conflicting prescription and non-prescription medications that could make a coexisting condition worse. Treating conditions one at a time is common in medicine and can cause a therapeutic competition in treatments. According to the study, only 16% of prescriptions were changed when interactions were known and the competing drugs were continued to be prescribed the remainder of the time.
David Lee, an assistant professor at the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy claims,
“Drugs tend to focus on one disease at a time, and most physicians treat patients the same way,” Lee said. “As a result, right now we’re probably treating too many conditions with too many medications. There may be times it’s best to just focus on the most serious health problem, rather than use a drug to treat a different condition that could make the more serious health problem even worse.”
Chronic conditions that commonly use medications that may exacerbate each other include those that affect millions of older citizens: hypertension and osteoarthritis; hypertension and diabetes; hypertension and COPD; and hypertension and depression. In these and other cases, the mixing of drugs could be causing more harm than good.
Awareness of this problem is needed to help medical professionals make more effective decisions in treating multiple conditions. Family and friends should notify older people of the importance of discussing options and concerns with their physicians or therapists. Alternatives to conventional treatments, such as meditation and acupuncture, are often available with great success and should be considered possible therapies. Finally, consider speaking with your pharmacist about drug interactions – including any over-the-counter medications you take. Pharmacists are great and sometimes underutilized sources of quality information.
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