Some are calling it America’s other prescription crisis. Many American seniors may be taking too many medications that they don’t need. Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people 65 through 69 take at least five prescription medications for chronic conditions. This number jumps to 46 percent for people 70 through 79.
Why So Many Medications?
One possibility for so many medications is called the prescribing cascade. This is when older patients, who have a hard time metabolizing medicines, suffer from the side effects. Doctors give them more drugs to treat the side effects, and it goes on and on. This happens slowly so neither the patient nor doctor are aware of how many drugs are involved until it’s too late. This has been linked to medication errors that send seniors to hospitals and that could have been prevented.
Rita Redburg, a cardiologist and professor at the University of California, says that Americans are on a lot more medications than they were 15 years ago. Studies agree with her. A 2015 report states that the share of Americans of all ages who took at least 5 drugs nearly doubled between 2000 and 2012, from 8 percent to 15 percent. Another report shows that that older americans are prescribed more psychiatric drugs, including some used for treating schizophrenia, and have no mental health diagnosis.
What Can We Do About It?
Redberg is part of a team of doctors that are using the “de-prescribing movement.” This is when they slowly and systematically get rid of unnecessary pills. Basically it’s the opposite of prescribing medications.
This movement originated from Canada and Australia. Redburg thinks that we as a whole country prefer the idea of taking a pill instead of other organic ways to stay healthy like diet and exercise.
This movement is gaining in popularity but does face some obstacles. Advertising is a big one, all the commercials convincing people that they need this specific drug. Some people are also concerned about what is the right process for removing these drugs. On the doctor side, some doctors will see a list of medication prescribed by another doctor and not feel like they should look into them. Instead, they just add their own medications to the list.
You can read more here.