{"id":918843,"date":"2026-10-03T08:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T08:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/918843\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T08:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T08:26:11","slug":"overmedication-may-be-worsening-health-in-older-adults-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/918843\/","title":{"rendered":"Overmedication May Be Worsening Health in Older Adults, Study Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated4 min read\"SparkleKey Points\"CaretAdults over 65 take more prescriptions than any age group, but new research suggests taking multiple meds can actually backfire, leading to more side effects\u2014and even more prescriptions.Common drugs that trigger the \u201cprescribing cascade\u201d include heart meds, iron supplements, steroids, antidepressants, and dementia meds.Avoiding the prescribing cascade requires teamwork and communication between providers and their patients. <\/p>\n

Adults over 65 tend to take more prescription medications than any other age group, according to the National Institute on Aging<\/a>. This is known as polypharmacy, or the use of multiple drugs to treat various health conditions. The intention is good\u2014doctors want their patients to feel better. But in many cases, the opposite actually happens instead.<\/p>\n

Meet the Experts: Sonia Amin Thomas, Pharm.D.<\/a>, a clinical oncology pharmacist, professor, and vice chair with the department of pharmacy practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Maryann Amirshahi, Pharm.D., M.D.<\/a>, a toxicologist and emergency medicine doctor with MedStar Health.<\/p>\n

Taking multiple medications is expensive, difficult to track, and can lead to something called a prescribing cascade. This is when a new drug is prescribed to treat a side effect from an existing med that\u2019s mistaken for a separate medical condition, explains Sonia Amin Thomas, Pharm.D.<\/a>, a clinical oncology pharmacist, professor, and vice chair with the department of pharmacy practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. \u201cEssentially, we may end up treating the side effect rather than addressing the medication causing it,\u201d she adds. \u201cThis is treating symptoms rather than doing a root cause approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new study published in the journal BMJ<\/a> digs into this a little deeper and highlights the drugs that are the most common perpetrators of prescription cascades\u2014and what issues they tend to cause. Below, pharmacists explain the findings and how both patients and providers can prevent them from persisting.<\/p>\n

What did the study find?<\/p>\n

Using health data from over 2 million older adults in Ontario, researchers identified 24 of the most common, potentially inappropriate prescription cascades in the treatment plan. The cascades typically began with heart medications such as cholesterol or blood pressure drugs<\/a>, iron supplements, steroids, antidepressants, and drugs prescribed for Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia known as cholinesterase inhibitors.<\/p>\n

When any one of those single drugs was prescribed, side effects tended to follow\u2014and so did more medications. \u201cIron supplements may cause constipation<\/a>, leading to laxative use,\u201d Thomas says. Cholesterol medications<\/a>, which can cause muscle soreness or discomfort, may be followed by pain medications, and certain dementia drugs\u2014which can cause insomnia or wakefulness\u2014may be followed by sleep medications. \u201cThese combinations aren\u2019t automatically inappropriate, but they need to be evaluated by a healthcare professional to ensure they are being utilized correctly,\u201d Thomas says.<\/p>\n

Why overmedication can be dangerous<\/p>\n

\u201cOvermedication can increase the risk of drug interactions, falls, dizziness, confusion, hospitalizations, and additional side effects,\u201d says Thomas. \u201cIt also increases medication costs and makes treatment regimens more difficult to manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maryann Amirshahi, Pharm.D., M.D.<\/a>, a toxicologist and emergency medicine doctor with MedStar Health, adds that older adults are more sensitive to medication effects in general. They also are more likely to have decreased kidney function, which could cause drugs to accumulate in their system at potentially toxic levels and lead to more side effects.<\/p>\n

Overmedication may also be more likely to happen for older adults because they tend to see more medical professionals, which can raise the risk of prescription info falling through the cracks. \u201cThey may see multiple specialists who may not communicate with each other and may be on multiple medications that may interact,\u201d Dr. Amirshahi continues. And older adults who have cognitive issues aren\u2019t always able to advocate for themselves or communicate clearly about their list of current medications, which is another way overmedication can go undetected.<\/p>\n

How to avoid unsafe overmedication<\/p>\n

Reducing overmedication should be a team effort between patients and providers, our experts say. On the provider\u2019s end, new symptoms should be addressed before more prescriptions are written. \u201cThe study reinforces the importance of treating the whole patient rather than addressing each new symptom in isolation,\u201d says Thomas. If they link the new side effect to the existing medication, for instance, they may be able to swap in another medication that does the same job\u2014but is not known to cause the issue they\u2019re experiencing. They also may be able to recommend lifestyle approaches that can help.<\/p>\n

Patients should also take advantage of support from their pharmacists. Ask about possible symptoms or drug interactions when you pick up your meds, and track what you\u2019re feeling. \u201cKeep an updated medication list and note when symptoms begin, particularly after starting a medication or changing a dose,\u201d Thomas recommends. \u201cHaving a log and record of history of medications and supplements, along with when symptoms started and how they develop over time, is crucial.\u201d This can help guide your conversation with your doctor if you do experience side effects and can better help them connect the dots.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important for patients to know the intention behind each of their medications. \u201cIf something does not make sense to you, talk to your prescriber or pharmacist,\u201d says Dr. Amirshahi.<\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/p>\n

\u201cMedication reconciliation should be part of every patient encounter,\u201d says Thomas. \u201cBefore prescribing something new, clinicians should review the patient\u2019s complete medication list, assess potential adverse effects, and consider whether adjusting or replacing an existing medication could address the problem.\u201d Above all, our experts stress that communication is key.<\/p>\n

Also: More medications do not necessarily mean better care, Thomas adds. \u201cThe goal should be the right medication, at the right dose, for the right reason,\u201d she says. \u201cWe also need to utilize lifestyle medicine approaches with medications.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"4 min readKey PointsAdults over 65 take more prescriptions than any age group, but new research suggests taking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,184573,18968,316481,784,84,237154,1642,199835,316480,273948],"class_list":["post-918843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-collection-health-news","tag-content-type-news-explainer","tag-contentid-e957d41a-3954-4def-b419-a9e44c3baefb","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-health","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-4","tag-shorttitle-taking-multiple-meds-might-be-hurting-your-health","tag-sponsored-false"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}