 Health & Nutrition
Thoughts on
Aging
What's in Your Medicine Cabinet? - April 14, 2011
(1 minutes: 55 seconds)
 WMA (audio
only)
Audio/Video Script:
Dr. LaVona Traywick
Assistant Professor - Gerontology
[Announcer] Welcome to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona Traywick,
Assistant Professor of Gerontology with the University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
[Dr. LaVona Traywick] What is in Your Medicine Cabinet?
When appropriately prescribed, administered and monitored, medications can help
older adults maintain health, recover from illness or control symptoms of
chronic disease. But as many as 60% of older adults take their prescriptions
improperly, which causes illness and death.
To ensure that you are using your
medications safely and wisely do the following:
- Listen carefully when your doctor prescribes medication, and ask questions to
find out the name of the drug, its purpose, and any potential side effects.
- Always
follow your doctor or pharmacist's instructions, as well as any instructions
printed on the medication's label.
- Be
sure to pay attention to how often a medication should be taken and if it
can or should be taken with food.
- Do not
stop taking your prescribed medicines even if you feel better, unless told
to do so by your doctor.
- Once a
year, bring all of your medications to your doctor or pharmacist. They can
help you weed out any expired meds and help to make sure that all of your
medications are compatible.
- Lastly, try to fill all of your prescriptions at the same pharmacy so that
the pharmacist can check for drug interactions.
[Announcer] Thank you for listening to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona
Traywick. To learn more about this and other topics, contact your local county
Cooperative
Extension Service office.
Resources:
American Public Health Association. (2005). Fact Sheet: Prescription
Medication Use by Older Adults http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/501879
Dr. Amy Hosier, Extension Family Life Specialist, University of
Kentucky’s College of Agriculture.
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