U.S. Seniors May Be Taking Risky Drug Combinations

Prescription medications are supposed to make us well, or keep us well. When picking up a prescription a patient assumes the prescription is correct, and the dosing information will allow the medicine to do what it was formulated for. Each prescription contains information provided by the manufacturer explaining the possible side effects and other information about the medication. How many people really read the information? Not enough of those taking prescription medications, particularly among the elderly.

In a report released Tuesday a research team said that more than half of the U.S. adults aged 57 to 85 are using prescription medications along with OTC medicines and in some cases adding dietary supplements or herbal remedies that could conflict and cause an interaction or risk of other complications. The researchers said that more than half of U.S. adults in the 57 to 85 age group are using five or more prescription or non-prescription medications. They are also taking dietary supplements in record numbers. One in five is using combinations that could be unsafe.

Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau of the University of Chicago Medical Center in Illinois teamed with Dima Qato, a pharmacist and researcher at the University of Chicago and used data from a national survey, and interviews with nearly 3,000 people in their homes to establish which medications were used on a regular basis. They analyzed the possible interactions among the top 20 prescription and over the counter drugs, along with the top 20 dietary supplements. Sixty eight percent of adults in the survey who took prescription drugs also used OTC medications as well as dietary supplements. Men from 75 to 85 years old were at highest risk for drug-to-drug interaction. More than 175,000 emergency department visits per year are caused by drug reactions and a third of these are the result of commonly prescribed drugs.

Half of the potential drug interactions could cause bleeding problems. Prescription Coumadin the market name of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s version of the blood thinner warfarin is one of most commonly cited for the risk of dangerous combinations. Two million Americans take warfarin as a result of heart attack, stroke, or major surgery. Warfarin taken with aspirin can cause dangerous bleeding because both are used to control clotting.

Merck & Co. sells the cholesterol lowing drug simvastatin under the name of Zocor, and taken with Warfarin is another combination that could cause bleeding. The nutritional supplement Ginko Biloba taken with aspirin is a potentially dangerous combination.

Patients need to know about the potential risks of certain combinations of drugs. The researchers recommend that patients carry a list of all the drugs or supplements they take. Review the list with your physician on each visit. If a patient sees more than one health care provider it is important that all prescribers have the same information.  More and more medical facilities are using in house systems so that each provider can see what was prescribed for a patient. This works great if all services are provided by one facility. If seeing more than one provider it is the consumers’ responsibility to ask enough questions and provide enough information to protect themselves.