Adverse effects are generated by a physician or treatment. Some adverse effects occur only when starting, increasing or discontinuing a treatment. For example, the elderly often take many drugs and have a risk of adverse effects.They are particularly vulnerable to drug-drug interactions. Medicinal herbs can interact with prescribed drugs and lead to adverse effects. Identifying the high risk patient is very important. The patient's age, weight, and underlying conditions are factors in consideration when ordering
The use of prescription drugs is another gray area because it might be beneficial for the elders to take the legal drugs for their medical issues. However, they are often not concerned about their ability to become addicted to these drugs. They only focus on the relief that the drugs are offering them.
patient care, causes of adverse effects and I will briefly discuss the key message of the
Senior citizens are the people who are most likely to take multiple medications due to the occurring chronic conditions as the aging process continues. Given the several medicines they take, they are ironically the age group that is very much sensitive to medication side effects, both therapeutic and negative.
Specific Aims 2: Determine the effect pharmacists have on preventing drug-drug and drug-disease interactions in nursing homes. Our working hypothesis is that the pharmacists, being drug experts, can identify medications that may interact with each other or interact with a certain condition before it occurs. The elderly have health status that is deteriorating and are more likely to have frequent modifications in drug therapy, as the conditions get worse. We predict that pharmacists in nursing homes will identify the interacts with continuous modification in
-Identifying each patient correctly is very important in order to avoid mistakes when delivering medications or performing each therapy.
When deciding whether or not to give a medication to a patient, many things must be taken into account. These conditions are known as indications. The indications for a medication include the most common uses of the drug in treating a specific condition (10). Another thing to be considered are contraindications, which are conditions where the drug should not be given. Contraindications are situations in which the drug should not be administered because of the potential harm that could be caused to the patient (10). The dosage is also important. The dose simply indicates how much of the drug should be given to the patient (10). The actions of the drug must always also be taken into account. The actions are the therapeutic effects the drug will have (10). Side effects of the medications must also be considered. Side effects are actions that are not desired and occur in addition to the desired therapeutic effects. Some side effects are unpredictable (10).
Drug therapy always carries risks, but in older populations, that risk is at times amplified due to normal physiological variations. When considering drug therapy for an older
“polypharmacy as the use of five or more prescription medications—is common among seniors and can lead to reduced compliance with medication regimens and problems with drug–drug interactions” (2012, p.428). Elderly patients are mostly at risk to polypharmacy issues due to aging effects on how the body tolerates medications, and also, as a result of taking more medications than younger patients. Reason et al., continues to demonstrate that the use of prescription increase with age and in association with multiple morbidities in the elderly patients. Medications such as over the counter drugs, herbal preps, and home remedies are widely used by older adults. These medications have a higher risk of causing adverse drug reaction especially with
This healthcare is documented meticulously and examined scrupulously. Data from the care given is extracted, gathered, and computed. These statistical analyses are interpreted. Trends are identified, and action plans are assembled.
outcomes and cost savings” (Lyder, 2003). It is also important to ensure the patient is getting
The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of many commonly used drugs vary significantly across all age groups. Adverse Drug Reactions are one of the major concerns in the elderly. Adverse drug reactions, especially those that may be preventable, are among the most serious concerns about medication use in elderly in clinical setting. The incidence of adverse drug reactions in patients more than 60 years old compared with younger patients (age less than 30 years) increased by two or threefold. The ageing process is associated with physiological and pathological changes. It then makes individuals at a higher risk of multiple morbidity and treatment-related complications. Predisposing factors to adverse drug reactions which have been noted including
Polypharmacy, which is the use of multiple medications and/or the administration of more medications than are clinically indicated, which is very common in elder adults. Polypharmacy has many bad effects on the body of an elder. Taking medicine is already risky but taking more than one medicine especially different kinds can hurt the body. Taking many medicine can cause “Poor health, depression, hypertension, anemia, asthma, angina, diverticulosis, osteoarthritis, weight gain, diabetics mellitus, and use of 9 or more medications are the health risk associated with polypharmacy” (Hajjar, Cafiero, & Hanlon ,2007). These can occur because taking many medicines at the same time especially if the doctor does not direct you to do it that way, the medicine can
Having side effects is a risk whenever taking a medicine. Prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, and "all natural" medicines have effects. There are a multitude of people effected by medicines in different ways each year.
Patients 18 years or older with BMI ≥ 30 or ≥ 27 with treated or untreated hypertentsion or dyslipidemia.
Relative risk is used when considering medical clearance, exercise testing, and level of supervision required before allowing someone to begin an exercise program independently. Classification is determined by the total number of positive CVD risk factors one associates with. Based on the presence or absence of known cardiovascular, pulmonary, or metabolic diseases as well as the total number of CVD risk factors, a flow chart can show a patient what risk classification they fall under. High risk covers those with the aforementioned diseases, or showing signs/symptoms of them. Low to moderate risk patients do not have any of these nor are they exemplifying signs or symptoms. However, moderate risk patients have two or more CVD risk factors while