One plus one can give different answers

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Jim deMaine

Ed note: One of the issues that Geriatricians face sorting through the number of medications we take – for BP, heart, clotting, cholesterol, depression, etc. This interesting TED talks about how data analysis might help to sort out bad combinations – or even find good ones. For now, please question your doc, “Do I really benefit from all these meds?” And make sure you bring in all the OTC supplements and vitamins. I can still remember a case of a woman poisoned by lead from “natural” calcium (which had been collected from lead contaminated cow bones.) Moral: Often we benefit from fewer pills and in lower doses as we age. Thanks to Gordon G for finding this.

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3 Responses to One plus one can give different answers

  1. A. U. MacRae says:
    July 21, 2019 at 4:33 PM

    This is a sobering talk, but how can I find out the side effects of the many drugs that I take?

    • Jim deMaine says:
      July 21, 2019 at 10:32 PM

      You can google the side effects of each drug, but there are drug/drug interactions that are important. You can talk to your doctor and ask if they can have you meet with the clinic/hospital pharmacist to review your whole drug profile and see if there are any red flags. That said, there are still unknowns when we’re taking multiple drugs.

  2. Lidia Filonowich says:
    July 22, 2019 at 9:07 AM

    It also depends an awful lot on the experience and knowledge of the individual clinic/hospital pharmacist.
    Also many times our individual metabolic process of how a drug effect takes place in our body, (and at our relative age) will be quite variable & different from the way the drug study was done and tested originally.
    We need to get away from the culture that a pill, just because it acts on one of the enzymes in the metabolic chain, is the answer and takes care of your ills.

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