Preventing overuse of medications
For many people, from young adults managing anxiety to elderly folks managing chronic diseases, swallowing a handful of tablets is a daily ritual. In the United States, 13% of individuals use five or more prescription medications.
Of individuals 65 and over, 42% fall into that category. It's a good idea to be aware of potential issues if you take various medications. Experts refer to this phenomenon as a "prescribing cascade," in which a side effect from one medication might trigger another, and so on.
Years of use of some medicines can be harmful. Others have adverse drug interactions or quit working altogether. Even a medication that is initially well accepted can have side effects that eventually impair cognition and result in accidents from falls.
Dr. Elizabeth Bayliss, a deprescribing specialist at Kaiser Permanente's Institute for Health Research in Aurora, Colorado, stated, "As we age, our metabolism changes." "Everyone may experience changes in their ability to metabolize long-term medications."
