Older people on medley of medicines risk life-threatening harm
by Sarah Boseley Health editor from Science | The Guardian on (#4NQ0T)
Age UK says unintended interactions between different medicines can be dangerous
About 2 million elderly people in the UK are on at least seven different medications and at risk of potentially life-threatening harm from interactions between the drugs or side-effects from pills that are no longer right for them.
Older people are being let down by a healthcare system that is allowing medicines to do more harm than good, according to a report from Age UK. One in five prescriptions for elderly people living at home are inappropriate, it said. Care home residents take an average of at least eight medicines, with a one in 10 risk of a mistake when the drugs are prescribed or given to them.
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