Changing Aging Blogs
[Is your blog changing aging? Let us know at changingaging AT gmail DOT com]
- Ageless Marketing
- A Little Red Hen
- Better Than I Ever Expected
- Boomers
- Cab Drollery
- Duplex Planet
- EChronicles
- Ecumen's Changing Aging Blog
- EdlerAbuse.org
- Elder Law Issues
- Elder Storytelling Place
- Embodied Aging
- Global Ageing Network Blog
- Maya's Granny
- O'Folks
- Real Sage Advice
- Remembering Matters
- The Boomer Chronicles
- The Savvy Boomer
- The Story of Stuff
- Time Goes By
- Women's Voices for Change
Politics
- Daily Kos
- Grasping Reality
- The Huffington Post
- Talking Points Memo
- Think Progress
- The Washington Monthly
Media & Culture
- CJR Daily
- FAIR's Media Views
- FuturePundit
- Infomaniac: Behind the News
- Social Media
- Romenesko
- Truemors
Health & Science
News
Changing Aging Books
Search
Recent Posts
- ChangingAging.org Redesign -- Please Bookmark!
- Disaster in Buffalo
- Power Up Friday
- Blanchard WinsDays
- Kevin Frick writes...
- Monkhouse Monday
- Getting Closer!
- Blanchard WinsDays
- Power Up Friday
- My Pick for Health and Human Services
- Understanding Health Care Reform
- Facts Are Stubborn Things: Social Security Edition
- Monkhouse Monday
- Localism is Coming
- Krugman Can't Wait...
Recent Comments
Category Archives
- AGING 100
- Aging
- Culture
- Dementia
- Eden Alternative
- Erickson School
- Green House
- Health Policy
- Longevity
- Media
- Rockets
Monthly Archives
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Blog Data
« Political Reverse Ageism | Main | Monkhouse Mondays: Social Climate Change »
May 30, 2008 |Permalink |Comments (0)
Power-Up Friday: Is Grandma Drugged Up?
Check out the news article on CNN.com, "Is Grandma drugged up?". This is important information, especially for older health care consumers.
The article states that 38 million older Americans suffer from drug complications every year, 180,000 of which are life-threatening.
It adds that people over 65 have a "risk for drug errors" that is seven times greater than those under 65. I'm not sure if their wording is correct here. This ratio might actually reflect the risk of drug complications, not errors. Either way, it is an important caution for older people on multiple medications, (see my post from April 25).
New drugs are rarely tested on older people before FDA approval. The study populations are carefully selected to minimize risk. That's not necessarily a bad thing; but after approval, the companies will often take drugs tested in healthy 40 and 50 year-olds, and promote them for people in their 70s and 80s. It is NOT a valid assumption that these pills will have the same efficacy and safety in older people.
I'm not a big fan of CNN-TV, which seems to use a lot of fearmongering and histrionics to peddle its news. However, this article is a good read. It has lists of potentially harmful drugs and drug interactions, instructions for doing a "brown bag review" of your pills, and suggestions for discussing these concerns with your doctor. Check it out!
--Al Power