Why am I not surprised? A study has shown that two classes of drugs often given, in tandem, to people with dementia - a population that also tends to have problems with incontinence - are together causing more rapid functional decline.
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Sue
Monday, May 05, 2008 at 02:17 PMre: Untitled Comment
Carol Bradley Bursack
Monday, May 05, 2008 at 02:41 PMI think computers should help - that's why often the pharmacist is better at catching drug interactions than the doctor. They watch for that when they fill prescriptions.
It's really important to stay with one pharmacy. However, that doesn't do any good until someone studies and reports findings such as this one. And this seemed to start with someone's "Ah ha!" moment - when they looked at the two drugs and figured out that they would pull against one another. Then they did the study.
I doubt that drug reps would bring it up, and doctors have a ton of stuff to keep up on. That's a big problem. No one can know everything. Families have to ask questions. Don't be afraid of the doctors and nurses. Ask for explanations - the "why" and "what for" of each drug - and read the side effects. That may even make a doctor take a second look.
But you are right, it's some of everything. So, we can't get lax. If there's a definite change for the worse, we should try to figure out if it's the disease progressing or if something else could be the cause.
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Who decides what medications to take.
Anonymous
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 09:23 AMMy concern is that my mother is in a nursing home, she has dementia. I am not sure who do we talk to about the combination of drugs she takes. It is so hard to get a meeting with the nursing home dr. The nurses all have their own opinions. I don't know who to turn to for the truth about is all this medication needed. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Barb E.
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Hi Carol - Thanks so much for this very important post. I suspect it made many of us think to take a second look at our own intake of medications and insure all are working in tandem - not in oppositition.
So I have a question, how does a physician learn about medications in the first place? Do they rely heavily on pharmaceutical representatives for this information? Do they receive "continuing education" on drug and drug therapies among other "updates'? And does this then vary from state to state and possibly from drug rep to drug rep? My gut tells me its a combination of all of these? I guess my big question is how is all of this regulated? It has got to be more than a crap shoot as to how we all are being medicated.
Thanks for your thoughts. Anyone else want to join in - post your comment now!
All the best, sue (moderator)
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