Medicines, etc.

Disclaimer

The following narrative is for purposes of information only and offers no specific practical advice on the care or management of patients beyond that which is advised by a trained healthcare professional.

Never stop taking prescribed medicines without the advice of your doctor (or nurse, or pharmacist).

Introduction

When I was at medical school, I am not sure if polypharmacy had been invented, or, if it had, it wasn’t something we discussed much. If you haven’t heard the word, you can probably work-out what it means – ‘poly’ – lots, ‘pharmacy’ – medicines; as to what lots of medicines means is less clear.

I am going to discuss polypharmacy in older people, although with changes in society and healthcare over the past decade, this is likely an issue affecting people of all ages.

Polypharmacy, etc.

Specifically, there are two terms which help narrow-down the definition – they are appropriate…