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Drugs and Alternative Medicine

Aging Well, Living Well Home > Drugs and Alternative Medicine

• Drugs
• How to Read Drug Labels
  • How to Read a Prescription Drug Label
  • How to Read an Over the Counter Drug Label
• Polypharmacy
• Drug Abuse
• When to See a Doctor
• Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM)
• More Resources

Drugs

Although everyone needs to be careful about taking medicines, older adults need to be even more careful. This is because:

• Older people often take more medicines than younger people
• Older people may react differently to medicine

Two of the biggest problems older people have with medicines are:

• Reactions from mixing two or more drugs in the body, called "drug interactions." A drug interaction can cause bad effects (usually called side effects), such as a rash, upset stomach, or sleepiness.
• Getting too much of one medicine, called "drug overdose." This, too, can cause side effects.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines (both prescription and over-the-counter) you are taking. This is very important, particularly if you see more than one doctor for different health issues. Your main doctor can work with you to make sure you are taking the right drugs in the right amounts.

Older people are more likely to have side effects from drug interactions or drug overdoses because:

• They are more likely to take a number of different drugs.
• Their bodies use food and drugs slowly. This means that it may take longer for a drug to start working. Drugs also may stay in their bodies longer. This can cause too much of the medicine to be in the body.

Common side effects of drugs are:

• Upset stomach, such as diarrhea or constipation
• Blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Mood changes
• Skin rash

"Start low and go slow" is good advice for older people when taking medicines. This means starting at the lowest dosage, and if this isn't effective, increasing the dosage slowly.

How to Read Drug Labels

Resources from the Food & Drug Administration: Medicines and Older Adults "Take Time to Care" Campaign.

Medicines, or drugs, come as either prescription or over-the-counter. Prescription drugs are used under a doctor's care. Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can be bought and used without a doctor's prescription, and you buy them at a drug store or grocery store. When using any kind of drug, it's important to read the drug label for instructions. Not following the instructions can hurt your health. Read the label each time you use a drug, just in case there have been changes to it since the last time you used it. See the drug labels below to know what to look for. If you read the label and still have questions, call your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist for help.

How to Read a Prescription Drug Label

(A text version of a Prescription Label is available here.)

How to Read an Over the Counter Drug Label

(A text version of an Over the Counter Label is available here.)

Are you at risk? Ask your doctor! If you take prescription drugs and answer yes to any of the questions below, you could be at increased risk for polypharmacy. Do you take herbs, vitamins, or over-the-counter medicines? Do you have to take medicine more than once a day? Do you have arthritis? Do you use different pharmacies to fill your prescriptions? Do you have poor vision or hearing? Do you live alone? Do you sometimes forget to take your medicine? Source: University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy is when a person is taking more drugs than needed. Because older adults tend to take more medicines, polypharmacy is a concern. Make sure you tell your doctor about all the drugs (both prescription and over-the-counter) you are taking. If your doctor knows all the medicines you are taking, she or he can make sure you don't have any harmful interactions and that you aren't taking something you don't need.

Drug Abuse

Drug abuse is seen in people of all ages, races, and economic situations. Older adults are particularly at risk of prescription drug abuse because they tend to take more drugs. Older adults are most likely to abuse anti-anxiety drugs (such as Valium or Xanax), oral narcotics (such as codeine), or sleeping pills. If you're taking a higher dosage than your doctor recommends or if you're taking your drugs more often, you may have a problem. If you think you may have a problem, talk to your doctor. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and your doctor can help.

When to See a Doctor

As you get older, it becomes more important to see your doctor on a regular basis. Keep in mind, if you're having pain or other serious health problems, you should always see your doctor right away or call 911. Refer to our Symptoms of Serious Health Condions brochure for a list of symptoms that could be signs of a serious health condition.

Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM)

The term complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used to describe a group of medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not currently regarded as conventional medicine. A few studies have looked at the effectiveness of CAM therapies, but for most there are still questions that need to be answered. Key questions include: Are these therapies safe? Do these therapies work at treating the diseases or medical conditions for which they are used?

The list of what is considered to be CAM changes all the time, as therapies proven to be safe and effective are adopted by conventional health care and as new approaches to health care emerge.

• Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine. An example is using aromatherapy to help lessen a patient's discomfort after surgery.
• Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. An example is eating a special diet to treat cancer instead of the usual treatments like surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy that the doctor recommends.

For more information, visit the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

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