![\"Medications](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_GettyImages-1475020235.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMassive research study found \u2018prescribing cascades\u2019 caused by medications not new medical conditions<\/p>\n
07:57, 28 Sep 2026Updated 08:11, 28 Sep 2026<\/p>\n
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Medications can set off \u2018prescribing cascades\u2019 where more drugs are used to combat side effects(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
A new study has found that prescribing medications such as blood pressure<\/a> drugs, statins, an Alzheimer\u2019s drug, and iron supplements leads to \u2018prescribing cascades\u2019 to combat adverse reactions. The research, published in BMJ involved a massive 2,297,942 people to investigate the impacts of prescriptions.<\/p>\n A prescribing cascade occurs when a drug is prescribed to a patient, an unrecognised adverse reaction develops, and a second drug is prescribed to manage that reaction under the mistaken impression that a new medical condition has appeared.<\/p>\n The research, published in BMJ and led by Dr Paula Rochon,<\/a> director of research at the Weston and O\u2019Born Centre for Mature Women\u2019s Health at Sinai Health in Toronto, has revealed that certain drug combinations are a common but little-known contributor to drug harm at the population level and add unnecessary costs to the healthcare system.<\/p>\n Doctors cure cancer by hacking cells, genetic mutation linked to lung disease, dementia warning in muscles, and stomach fungus protects you from radiation – all this and more in our science newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n A potentially inappropriate prescribing cascade (PIPC) happens when a medication\u2019s side effect gets mistaken for a new health problem, leading to another prescription that may not have been needed in the first place. One common example flagged in the study involves non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).<\/a><\/p>\n Commonly prescribed for pain, these drugs are associated with a rise in blood pressure, which can lead to a new prescription for high blood pressure, rather than a second look at the original pain medication. Older adults are especially vulnerable to this pattern because they\u2019re more likely to be on multiple medications at once, due to having multiple conditions, making it harder for both patients and clinicians to trace a new symptom back to an existing drug.<\/p>\n Dr Rochon said: \u201cThese sequences of events are common but often missed <\/a>in clinical practice. Knowing what medications, you are taking, when they were started and for what indication is important in order to identify possible prescribing cascades that may be problematic \u201c<\/p>\n