If you do, you are taking part in a phenomena known as polypharmacy. Polypharmacy means "many drugs." Taking many drugs can result in many problems and more potential for side-effects. You can probably see polypharmacy in action when you visit your grandparents, maybe even your mother or father. Does your grandpa take like 3 or 4 pills in the morning? I know mine does! If you have ever thought about it, wouldn't some of the drugs interact badly?
It is most common in the elderly and psychiatric patients. There are a lot of studies placed on these populations but other people participate in polypharmacy without even knowing it! If you are taking a prescription medication, as well as a couple over the counter drugs, you are participating in polypharmacy. If you are taking over the counter drugs with herbal supplements, you are participating in polypharmacy. A lot of people don't realize this...did you?
Besides elderly patients,the people that are more prone to polypharmacy are patients who use analgesic or have asthma, diabetes, anemia, or casdiovascular diseases. A good way to prevent this is to teach the patient, decrease drug dosage and frequency if possible, prescrive less complex drugs, and regularly monitor for drugs and disease.
ReplyDeleteCan't even certain foods interact with medicines? How are patients supposed to keep up with the interactions when they are on multiple drugs, eating, and get the occassiional stomach upset? Are doctors even capable of listing everything that shouldn't be taken with something? Is this what killed Heath Ledger?
ReplyDeleteI think is not a good thing to use too much medicines. Sometimes, our sickness needs some exercise.
ReplyDeleteI think it is true that as people get older they get dependent on pills to the point where they aren't too worried about how they interact. These should be a limit to the amount of pills a person can take daily, outside of NECESSARY ones like if they need it for controlling their cancer or STDs or something, but for just controlling blood pressure (something that can be controlled through just healthier diets) people shouldn't be taking too many of those pills.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, I never new this existed. I feel like I have been a victim of Polypharmacy. In the past I have had allergies and asthma and all kinds of issues. Ive taken lots of pills at once on more than one occasion over the years. Maybe that's whats wrong with me.
ReplyDeleteMedicines are so complex; they should be taken with caution since there are so many long-term side-effects that have yet to be discovered. Also adding to this is the fact that each body is different and could react to a certain medicine in a different manner than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe more pills popped increases the chance of side-effects or even death especially if the full range of effects of the medicine aren't known. It must also be remembered that medicines, when combined, can completely change in their effects and even develop deadly responses.
I think we are at a point where people do not view over the counter drugs as medicine. We pop a pill here take a table spoon of that there; you would think we were eating candy.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important that average citizen (young and old) be educated on the dangers of mixing medicine, whether they be over the counter drugs or the perscription medicine. Caution should be taken when ingesting any medication. People must realize that it is more that just a pill that they are putting in their body; it is a chemical, a drug.
I see my grandparents and older people do this all the time. I haven't really thought about it much until now though. I guess these pills would seem to work against each other. I hate when I have to be on one medication so taking as many as some do seems awful! and it can't be good for you
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