reader questionDo the medicines you take still suit you? Because the effect of some decreases, or pills have been introduced with fewer side effects. If you’re worried about your father or mother, it certainly doesn’t hurt to check the medication with your pharmacist or GP, says pharmacist Sander van den Bogert. In this section, our experts answer a reader’s question every week about relationships, health, nutrition and other topics.
Sander van den Bogert: ,,The use of many medicines side by side is called polypharmacy. Polypharmacy is common in older people when several ailments need to be treated at the same time. For example, people with diabetes sometimes also have high blood pressure, osteoporosis or a form of rheumatism. The number of medicines that are prescribed then quickly rises.
Some treatments are lifelong, others are not. Some medicines have no effect over time, or the effect is no longer proportional to the side effects of the medicine.
A medicine that has been used without problems for years can suddenly cause side effects
As you get older, the body changes. The ratio between muscles, fat and water changes and the kidneys work less well. As a result, a drug that has been used without problems for years can eventually cause side effects.
We now know that some medicines have little added value
Medical insights are also changing. We now know that some substances that were often prescribed twenty years ago have little added value, or there are now better alternatives.
So it is advisable to have your mother’s medication list regularly checked for updates. The pharmacist is trained to assess this in a structured way, in collaboration with the general practitioner and often also with the practice nurse and specialists involved. In consultation with your mother, it will then be determined what is desirable. Sometimes the outcome is also that a medication is required.’’
Do you also have a question for our experts? Mail to zo@dpgmedia.nl
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