Polypharmacy

The polypill approach to CVD prevention has demonstrated significant reduction in both BP and LDL levels but may fall short of addressing the larger underlying drivers of health disparities, a speaker reported.

Polypharmacy, or the condition of taking a high burden of medications, is common in hospitalized patients with HF at admission and discharge, and has increased from 2003 to 2014, researchers found.

Effects of antihypertensive mediation reduction on systolic BP control in older patients.

May has been commemorated as Older Americans Month since 1963, according to the Administration for Community Living.

Medication reduction in older patients treated with multiple antihypertensive medications was noninferior to usual care regarding the control of systolic BP at 12 weeks, according to data from the OPTIMISE trial published in JAMA.

The use of five or more prescription medications before initiation of IV chemotherapy appeared associated with higher rates of inpatient hospitalizations among older adults with cancer, according to results of a retrospective, population-based study published in Journal of Geriatric Oncology.

Opioid-involved overdose deaths commonly featured alcohol and benzodiazepine co-involvement, according to results of a repeated cross-section analysis published in JAMA Network Open.

Management of polypharmacy — the concurrent use of five or more medications — is a major challenge for clinicians who care for older adults.

Calcium channel blockers that are often prescribed to older adults with hypertension can cause peripheral edema, which many physicians misinterpret as a new medical condition and subsequently prescribe diuretics, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.