Around 8 million people in the UK take five or more medications each day (known as polypharmacy), with a further 2 million people taking ten or more prescription drugs daily. The majority of people who take multiple medications each day are aged over 65.

Taking multiple prescription drugs is not necessarily a problem. But it can become problematic when a medicine is overprescribed. This means someone is taking a drug that’s no longer appropriate for a their circumstances, does not deliver the intended benefit, conflicts with their wishes or when a better non-medicine option is available.

In some cases, the consequences of overprescribing can be serious. It may leave people feeling tired, dizzy, confused or unsteady. This can make everyday activities harder and increase the risk of falls, loss of independence and hospital admission. For older adults living with frailty or dementia, these effects can be particularly harmful.

The reason this overlap of medications becomes especially dangerous as we age is because our body processes these drugs very differently than it does when we’re younger.

For older adults, the kidneys and liver may not remove medicines from the body as effectively as they once did. This means medicines can build up in the body, increasing the risk of side-effects and problems caused by taking........

© The Conversation