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We truly appreciate your gifts in this time of great need. April 9, 2021
“Grow old with me,” poet Robert Browning famously wrote. “The best is yet to be.” That can be true of course, but it’s by no means a guarantee. Browning lived to age 77, which for the 19th century was quite good. His wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, however, died at age 55.
It s common for older adults to take multiple medications, whether they re for easing pain, lowering blood pressure or cholesterol or treating a chronic condition. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified concerns about polypharmacy â regularly taking five or more prescription drugs.
Some prescriptions have side effects, such as dizziness, that can be particularly dangerous for older people; others pose a risk of drug interactions. Adding supplements or over-the-counter products to prevent COVID-19, or drugs to treat it, can compound the risks.
A few months ago, pharmacist Nicole Brandt counseled a 74-year-old Maryland woman who had come to an outpatient clinic for a wellness checkup. Brandt is executive director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland. Her patient had reason to be especially fearful of the pandemic: the woman had advanced kidney disease and was on dialysis. The woman mentioned that she had begun taking high-dose vitamin