The dangers of taking too many pills

Filed in archive Treatment on July 24, 2005

An article over the weekend talks about the dangers of polypharmacy. As more medications become available, this is becoming an increasingly worse problem for today's seniors. One helpful tip: make sure you have an updated list of your medications with you at all times, and ensure you bring this list in to every doctor you see.

Patients of any age should be cautious about taking too many drugs, but London counsels seniors to be especially careful. As people age, their livers and kidneys take longer to remove drugs from their systems.

"The drugs get in, but they don't get out (as quickly)," he said. "Because the drug stays in their systems longer, it has a much greater effect on them."

This increases the likelihood of unintended drug reactions, said James Gardner, who practiced family medicine for 25 years and is now vice president of medical staff services at Waukesha Memorial Hospital.

"Many meds that seniors take have side effects that can cause mental confusion or deterioration. It's usually not so dramatic that people recognize it's because of the medicine, but when you start combining meds, the cumulative effect can be significant," he said.

doctors might be more apt to prescribe drugs before prescribing non-medicinal therapies because doctors don't hear the holistic message enough, London suggested.

"Drug companies aren't spending a lot of time telling (doctors) not to prescribe meds," he said. "I think doctors get too much information from drug companies, but (doctors) should remember that that information is going to be biased."

Gardner agreed, but said patients sometimes contribute to the problem.

"Prescribing exercise and physical therapy might be good in practice, but a lot of people are looking for a quick fix.

They'd rather have a pill than have to exercise three or four times a week, unless you've got a really motivated individual," he said.

Lawson, the Milwaukee retiree, is aware of the risks of combining all of her medications.

She owns a well-worn copy of "The Pill Book" in which she looks up side effects and known drug interactions for every medicine she takes.

Her knowledge makes her cautiously optimistic.

"Because the majority of drugs I'm on are life-saving drugs, I'm more than comfortable with them," she said. "But for conditions that are not life-threatening, I'll take a very conservative route before I add any more drugs."

(Ramde, "Another pill not always best medicine", JS Online, Jul.24)