According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, polypharmacy is defined as the concurrent use of multiple medications by a patient to treat coexisting conditions which may result in adverse drug interactions. In the United States, many seniors struggle significantly as a result of polypharmacy. A testament to our current, over-medicated status in American healthcare.
Often considered the most compliant age-bracket by physicians, seniors are typically expected follow their doctor’s orders with few questions asked. Unfortunately, senior compliance doesn’t always translate to adequate care and proper treatment. Somnolence, depression, anxiety, fatigue, psychosis, weakness, confusion and insomnia are just a few of the side effects and adverse reactions faced by seniors who are struggling with polypharmacy. And those don’t include the life-threatening emergencies that many seniors face due to not understanding their medication regimen as a result of being prescribed too many medications often by several doctors. The problem is real and sadly, our most senior patients are at greatest risk. Polypharmacy plays a serious role in the zombification of our elderly. Visit any long-term care facility or nursing home and you’ll find this problem to be clear and evident.
Bearing witness to these issues are the Baby-Boomers who have watched their Great Generation parents struggle with many of the problems caused by polypharmacy-related syndromes. As a result, Baby-Boomers are more readily turning to alternative therapies to treat their symptoms. In my experience, patients in this age-bracket value their quality of life and are not willing to compromise. Understandably so. Watching a loved one’s or a parent’s health decline over time is traumatic. Seeing your loved one become an overmedicated zombie is also traumatizing. Therefore, Baby-Boomers are expressing a resounding “NO!” to the care their parents received and seeking complementary, alternative therapies in addition to traditional treatments. At the forefront of the therapies Baby-Boomers seek these days is cannabis.
Baby BoomerS Say Yes to Cannabis
KNOWLEDGE
36