Meds should be reduced after fracture

STATES CHRONICLE – Accidents happen, especially with older people. Breaking a bone is not a rare event for them and they are receiving medications for it. However, if the patient will take the meds after his/hers fracture is gone, the risk of a fracture will increase because of them.  According to a research,  there are a few people who stop taking drugs after they struggle with a fracture.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Munson, the author of the study, said that one would have expected that a health event would have resulted in some change is the use of prescription drugs. However, they noticed that for most of the patients they studied, a fracture did not lead to any change in medication. That is why the fracture risk is bigger and people should pay attention to what meds are taking.

Researchers use data from 168 000 people, most of them women, on average age 80. They all had a fracture in the past, which was not a surprise. Most people who have a fracture are old, they have more fragile bones and their bodies are not as strong as they were in the past. Some of them went to the hospital, had pain and for some of them, fractures lead to loss of function. You should pay attention to your parents or grandparents because fractures are the main cause of death for older people. Thre are many persons who need to go to a nursing home because of a fracture.

Older people are taking many meds and some of them are making them forget things or have less control over their body. These factors can lead to a fall and sometimes things can get worse. As a child, if you fall, you recover faster. Your body is able to take care of itself and you don’t have to take many meds.

When you are old, things change. Doctors should be aware that are meds that can lead to fractures. It is important to see all the drugs he/she is taking. There might be some that the patient does not have to take. However, people are still taking drugs because, in many cases, the benefits are more important the risks.  Older people are taking many meds to make sure they are feeling good, without thinking that some of them could be a threat to their bodies.

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