Polypharmacy and the elderly.

Polypharmacy is the concurrent use of several different medications used by the same individual, which in some cases can lead to drug-drug interactions. Elderly patients often are faced with polypharmacy when they have multiple disease processes. Declining organ function, as part of the normal aging process, adds to the problem of adverse drug effects in this population. To minimize polypharmacy, prescribers aim to treat multiple disease conditions with a single agent if possible. Pharmacists can often help in drug selection, if given a set of criteria. This article is intended to help infusion professionals provide safe medication treatment by understanding how aging organ systems and medications affect the elderly.