Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that the percentage of US seniors taking at least five supplements or medications has risen, research published online March 21 in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests. With this rise comes an increase in the number of serious and major medication interactions, the study revealed.
The CBS News (3/21, Vernon) website reports that 47 percent of “Americans age 75 and older took five or more prescription drugs in 2011, nearly double the 24 percent that did so in 1999, just 12 years earlier.” For people in the age range of 65 to 74, the percentage is comparable at 33 percent for 2011 and 23 percent in 1999.
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— “Older Americans taking more medications,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.