A survey of drug use among the elderly in Shanghai community shows that,
5 1.33% of the elderly take medicine every day,
Among them, 18.74% of the elderly take three drugs at the same time every day.
2.52% of the elderly took 6 kinds of drugs at the same time.
Pharmacists found that some elderly people eat 10-20 tablets a day, some elderly people eat 30-40 tablets a day, and some elderly people eat 70-80 tablets a day!
Even the drugs commonly used by the elderly, especially the combination of multiple drugs, have no small potential risks.
1/7 The old man didn't die of disease, but of irrational drug use!
According to the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), 1/7 of the elderly people in the world died not from natural aging or diseases, but from irrational drug use.
Due to the decline of the functions of various systems in the elderly, the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs are weakened. In addition, there are many diseases and many kinds of drugs in the elderly, which will inevitably increase the risk of adverse drug reactions.
The reporter of Health Times compiled the list of the first batch of potentially unsuitable drugs used by the elderly in China and interviewed experts in the industry, and listed these 10 commonly used and high-risk drugs.
If your old man is taking these pills, be sure to let him put them away!
1, ibuprofen
Antipyretic and analgesic, but there is a risk of liver injury, avoid overdose.
It is inevitable that the elderly will occasionally have headaches and brain fever. Ibuprofen has almost become synonymous with understanding heat and analgesia. Cold, headache, toothache, take a ibuprofen and you'll be fine.
"ibuprofen is harmful to elderly patients, mainly liver damage." Some old people take the dose according to the instructions and find it ineffective, so they eat more by themselves. In fact, due to the slow metabolism of the elderly, the general dosage should be half of the normal dosage. Excessive use can easily cause liver damage.
Ibuprofen also has adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcer, mainly manifested as nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, bloody stool and so on. If the elderly patients themselves have gastrointestinal diseases, they should pay more attention. Taking ibuprofen after meals can better avoid this risk.
In addition, many elderly people are used to equating ibuprofen with painkillers and taking it whenever it hurts. However, ibuprofen can only treat the symptoms, that is, relieve the symptoms, and there is no way to remove the root cause, which is easy to cover up the condition. If the elderly want to be diagnosed, they should consult a doctor in time.
2. Insulin
Control blood sugar, avoid self-addition, and be alert to hypoglycemia.
Many sugar friends inject insulin, but if the dose control is not accurate, it is likely to cause the risk of hypoglycemia.
Many elderly people wake up in the morning to check their blood sugar and find that their fasting blood sugar is high. They mistakenly think that the insulin injection dose is not enough the day before, so they increase the insulin injection dose without authorization.
In fact, in addition to the insufficient dose of hypoglycemic agents, it is also possible that the patient's blood sugar is too low at night, and it is more dangerous to increase the dose without authorization.
If the blood sugar is too low at night, the secretion of hormones that are antagonistic to insulin, such as glucagon, will increase, but the insulin secretion in the patient will not increase accordingly, which will gradually increase the blood sugar and lead to fasting hyperglycemia in the morning. At this time, if the insulin injection dose is increased, the situation will be more serious.
"For the elderly, hypoglycemia is fatal." And because this happens at night, it is even possible to die suddenly. For elderly diabetic patients, the dosage should be strictly adjusted under the guidance of professional doctors. Even if the blood sugar is a little high, it is no problem, but you must avoid hypoglycemia.
3. Diazepam (Diazepam)
Calm and hypnotic, easy to rely on, be careful when you get up in the middle of the night.
Diazepam, also known as diazepam, has sedative and hypnotic effects. Older people generally don't sleep well and will be exposed to this medicine. This product is a second-class psychotropic drug, so special attention should be paid when using it.
"Some elderly people get up in the middle of the night, and the drug effect still exists at this time, so they will feel dizzy after getting up." In this confused state, the elderly are prone to fall and even lead to fractures. Therefore, the elderly who rely on hypnotics to treat insomnia should be especially careful when they get up.
In addition, this drug can also make people dependent. First, physical dependence. For example, some people used to need only one tablet, but now they need five tablets to take effect. The second is mental dependence. I feel that I have to rely on it to sleep, and sometimes I have to eat when I can sleep.
In order to achieve the best effect, it is best to take hypnotics half an hour before going to bed. Don't forget to eat when you are about to fall asleep. Drink plenty of water and move around after taking the medicine, so that the medicine can be absorbed directly into the stomach instead of staying in the esophagus.
In addition, when taking this medicine for a long time, you should not stop taking it suddenly, but gradually reduce it, and you should also follow the doctor's advice when changing the medicine.
4. Digoxin
Medication for heart disease, starting with a small dose, beware of arrhythmia.
"digoxin tablets" is mainly used to treat heart failure, atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular rate and cardiac insufficiency, and its price is also close to the people.
However, the effective dose of the drug is close to the toxic dose, so attention should be paid to the usage and dosage, and the blood concentration of the drug should be monitored in time.
"Digoxin is a cardiotonic agent, which can effectively enhance myocardial contractility and slow down the heart rate, but if there is a serious adverse drug reaction, it will lead to arrhythmia."
In addition, it can also cause adverse reactions in the central nervous system and cause visual changes, such as yellow vision (everything is yellow) and green vision (everything is green), which is likely to be a signal of digoxin poisoning.
During the medication, gastrointestinal reactions such as loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, or nervous system adverse reactions such as dizziness and headache may also occur.
Pay attention to the following points when using digoxin:
The first is to start with a small dose, which is not enough at the beginning. The dosage of drugs for the elderly over 70 years old should be two-thirds or three-quarters of that of adults.
Secondly, we should pay attention to individual differences. Some people have obvious effects when they eat one tablet, while others can't.
Finally, because the bioavailability of different batches of drugs from different manufacturers is not the same, we must closely observe the changes of curative effect and adverse reactions when changing drugs.
5. Nifedipine
Controlling blood pressure may cause constipation, so it is necessary to monitor the amount of blood pressure regulation.
Nifedipine is a commonly used drug to treat hypertension, and it has curative effect on all kinds of hypertension. However, antihypertensive drugs can also lead to the risk of hypotension. In addition, the drug may also cause constipation.
"If the dose control is not good, it may lead to low blood pressure. This is actually a common problem faced by many antihypertensive drugs. The hypotension caused by this antihypertensive drug will feel worse than hypertension, but it is similar to hypertension in symptoms and generally has dizziness. The best way is to do a good job of self-blood pressure monitoring.
At present, there are two kinds of nifedipine tablets in clinic, one is a common constant-release tablet, which takes effect quickly, and the other is a nifedipine sustained-release tablet, which takes effect persistently and slowly, thus preventing the rapid decline of blood pressure. The two dosage forms are taken in different ways, so pay attention when buying medicine.