Mixing Prescriptions and the Elderly

 Those who have read this blog know where we stand with prescription drugs. Yet, with the trust that is given to doctors in this society, people will just about take anything. Mixing prescriptions is common place these days and no one thinks twice about it. Even when we see the death and destruction that they can cause, how much does that really impact people? Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy, Michael Jackson and many more should let everybody know that mixing drugs can kill you. Most people may say that these celebrities were abusing the drugs, however, most of them were taking prescribed doses the way they were supposed too. However, the catch is the amount of different medications that were mixed. I also am not naive to realize that there may have been recreation drug use involved as well, yet the cocktails that killed these stars are not so different than the cocktails that seniors are taking as well. I once read a quote from a doctor that said "If you are taking more than two medication you have become an experiment." I take this to mean that nobody knows how the elaborate cocktail of drugs is going to interact with each other, much less what side effects we may see.
Think about this, doctors are prescribing as much as 10-15 synthetic drugs to a lot of our senior citizens with no idea what this may do to their body. The only way that I can imagine that most people get on that many drugs to begin with is chasing symptoms like a cat chasing it's tail. Yet, the more you run in circles the harder it becomes to gain perspective and you get dizzy attempting it. Instead of stepping back and gaining perspective most doctors jump in the mix and start spinning as well. If you have parents or grandparents that have fallen into this trap, then I suggest you check out this article that may help to regain some common sense on mixing medications and the possible pitfalls.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/13/2746907/mixing-prescription-pills-can.html