Seniors tend to have more chronic illnesses such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic lung disease, and heart disease. Because people age 65 and older take more prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines than any other age group, the ESPC Public Relations Committee consulted NIH Senior Health and American Society of Health System Pharmacists for some helpful tips to prevent medication related illnesses and unnecessary hospitalizations. 

To avoid risk of interactions and get the best results from your medicines, here are some tips on how to manage them more safely. 

• Keep a list of all medications (prescription, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements) that you take and share those with your physician.
• Learn the names of the prescription drugs as well as their dosage strength and schedules.
• Ask if you should avoid certain beverages, foods, or activities while you are taking the drugs.
• If you are traveling, keep your medications in your purse or carry-on bag so that you have easy access and will not lose them if your luggage gets lost. Keep in mind that airport security requires that your medications be transported in their original, labeled bottles.
• Make sure that you carry your physician and pharmacy phone numbers with you when you are away from home.
• Many medications can cause “photosensitivity” — increased sensitivity to sunlight. Your pharmacist can advise you on this and recommend the right SPF for your skin type.
• Question anything you do not understand or that does not seem right. Be alert to any changes in dosage or appearance from your original prescription and check with your doctor or pharmacist.
• Consider using multi-day dispensers that organize your medicines by the day and time that you should take them.
• Get into the habit of checking the expiration dates on your medicine bottles, and throw away medicine that has expired.
• Don't stop taking a prescription drug unless your doctor says it is OK — even if you are feeling better. 

Ask your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse about the right way to take any medicine before you start to use it. Here are some specific questions to ask:

• When should I take it? As needed, or on a schedule? Before, with, or between meals? At bedtime?
• How often should I take it?
• How long will I have to take it?
• How should I store the medication? Does it need to be refrigerated?
• Can the pharmacist substitute a less expensive, generic form of the medicine?
• Can this medicine interact with other prescription and over-the-counter medicines — including herbal and dietary supplements — that I am taking now?
• If I forget to take my medication, what should I do?
• What side effects might I expect? Should I report them?
• If swallowing tablets is difficult, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether there is a liquid form of the medicine or whether you could crush your tablets. However, do NOT break, crush, or chew tablets without asking a health professional first. NEVER break, crush, or chew a capsule.

Medication non-compliance, the failure to take drugs appropriately as prescribed, is as dangerous and costly as many illnesses. Studies have shown that non-compliance causes 125,000 deaths annually in the United States. Of the 2 billion prescriptions filled each year, approximately 50 percent are not taken correctly and results in about 25 percent of hospitalizations due to medication-related illnesses among seniors. 

The website www.epill.com offers many products and services available to remind and manage multiple medications or call 1-800-549-0095.  Remember taking the correct amount of the prescribed medicine at the proper time may keep your disease under control and keep you out of the hospital.

Source: Jane Kinney, ESPC Publication Committee Member; www.espcfrederick.com