October is “Talk About Prescriptions” month, which has been observed for over 20 years by the National Council on Patient Information and Education. The education theme for 2007 is MUST for Seniors. The Medication Use Safety Training (MUST) program is designed to promote safe and appropriate medicine use by enabling older adults to avoid medication misuse, recognize and manage common side effects, and improve medicine use knowledge, attitudes and skills to avoid medication errors.
Fortunately for America’s aging baby boomer population—expected to swell to 71 million by 2030 — advances in drug therapies, coupled with health-promoting lifestyle choices (e.g., good nutrition, regular
exercise, smoking cessation), can help older adults lead more active, healthy lives for longer. When used appropriately, prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines can enhance quality of life by limiting loss of function and alleviating troublesome symptoms, and even extend life.
Despite these benefits, all medicines have risks, especially among older adults, who take more medications than any other age group in the United States. This group is more likely to experience serious adverse drug events, which can result in additional illness, drug-related hospitalizations and even death. These adverse events — 25% of which are preventable, according to research — may include falls, depression, confusion, hallucinations and malnutrition, which are more common in older adults. In addition, this group tends to have more than one prescribing healthcare provider and uses at least one pharmacy, making it more difficult to track all of their medicines and identify potential problems (e.g., drug interactions, harmfully high doses, unnecessary medicines that carry no health benefits).
It is important to take the time to learn all you can about the medicines you or a loved one are taking. The following are some helpful tips to ensure that you and your family know how to use medicines safely. When your doctor writes a new prescription, ask if the medicine or drug changes the way your body works or if it treats or prevents a disease. Ask your doctor about the risks versus the benefits for each medication. Ask about possible allergic reactions and side effects. Discuss with your health care provider any dietary supplements and herbal remedies that you use as these may change the way medications work in your body. Make a copy of your medicine list for your records and take it with you when you see your healthcare provider. Make extra copies of this list and share them with your family members.
Your primary care provider should review all of your medications at least annually to make sure that you are only taking those you need. Remind him or her or any allergies or problems you may have experienced with certain medicines. And, don’t stop taking medications without checking with him/her first.
Article provided to the La Quinta Chamber of Commerce – GEM Publication October 2007 page 21.
http://www.lqchamber.com/pdf/gem-oct07.pdf
