Dangerous Drugs and the Elderly

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Categories: Firm NewsPublished On: August 11th, 2020

Patients of an advanced age that receive prescription treatment from a physician may have increased risk of falls and injury. Generally, older people have difficulty coordinating their movements from one place to the other especially if great distance is a requirement. However, when adding many different medications to these actions it heightens the possibilities of causing harm to them. Some medical professionals fail to take normal aches and pains into account when prescribing certain medications to older patients. This article will discuss issues arising when doctors prescribe dangerous drugs to elderly patients.

Mixing dangerous drugs and failing strength in the elderly often proves potentially injurious even if such an individual lives at home or in a care facility. While many of the patients that take the medicines read the instructions and how the tablets may cause certain issues, it is not their responsibility to know how to handle these situations. A pharmacist should provide this information if the physician fails to do so.

Certain prescriptions may cause blood pressure to rise or fall which may lead to vertigo or dizziness. Other medicines have the tendency of making a person feel light-headed which could lead to them losing coordination with legs and feet. Some headache medication affects the head instead of alleviating the pain and often causes instances where the person may fall backwards or forward even if they are not walking. All of these circumstances might prove harmful to those who are advanced in age, where bones are brittle and muscles are fragile. When there is no one to assist these patients at home, they may die from such complications.

Many medical complications are prevented with blood pressure medicines. However, these often endanger elderly persons of other injuries that may arise from the use of these capsules. One study research on this issue found that elderly individuals taking blood pressure prescriptions have a higher susceptibility to injury through falls than others of the same age that are not required to take these pills. A single fall could break a bone or damage muscles in the elderly.

Most patients over the age of 70 have some form of blood issue such as high blood pressure that elevates the risk of heart attacks or strokes. As a result, many elderly individuals have been prescribed diuretics , beta blockers, inhibitors of other areas and similar medications. These are necessary to manage the health of their high blood pressure risks.

A Reuters research looked at previous and public data available based on hospitalization when severe falls occurred that included a sample of about 5000 patients over the age of 70 that have hypertension. The individuals were divided into three groups where the intensity of dosage and a different number of medications were the focus. Of those hospitalized due to harsh incidents of falls over half had been on moderate intensity of their drug regimen, 30% had a high intensity, and less than 20% took no medication for blood pressure. The whole group had more than one-third of all patients taking no less than three different medications for various types of blood pressure.

When the side effects of medication result in harm or death to an elderly individual, seek legal advice from the best accident attorney in Wasilla.

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