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Polypharmacy vs. Deprescribing
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Shadi Sarahroodi   |
| , Department of pharmacology and Toxicology, School of pharmacy and pharmaceutical Sciences, Tehran Medical sciences Islamic Azad University (IAUPS), Tehran, Iran , Sarahroodi@yahoo.com |
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Abstract: (700 Views) |
Usually, the elderly and patients with chronic diseases visit several doctors and are supposed to take multiple medications. The multiplicity of medications is called polypharmacy and it may cause side effects, drug interactions and other helth issues for the patient, and it might go as far as the patient might need to go to the hospital and be admitted in ICU, or even further and be the cause of death for the patient.
Experts have determined that if a person uses four medications, the fifth one will have the equal chance of risk and benefit for him/her.
The constant use of more than 5 drugs is called polypharmacy and its prevalence varies in different societies and various age groups. The phenomenon of polypharmacy is common in elderly and patients with chronic diseases. Since it can be potentially dangerous and it is growing fast globally. Researchers around the world are trying to establish methods to deal with this issue and improve the situation by decreasing the number of un needed medications for their patients. This method is called “Deprescribing” and there is an urgent need that Doctors, pharmacists and other health care professionals get familiar and join this process to serve patients better and and prevent the complications caused by polypharmacy as much as possible.
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| Keywords: polypharmacy, Deprescribing, Drug intraction, Side effects, polyprescription |
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Full-Text [PDF 389 kb]
(1372 Downloads)
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Received: 2022/08/24 | Accepted: 2021/12/31 | Published: 2021/12/31
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