Diab Meds and dmheart.com: Pioneering high-quality heart care and patient empowerment in diabetes by Dr. Nawal Singh Shekhawat

Rajiv Bandaru

Volume : VII, Issue : III, March - 2018

Diab Meds and dmheart.com: Pioneering high-quality heart care and patient empowerment in diabetes by Dr. Nawal Singh Shekhawat

Rajiv Bandaru

Abstract :

Concomitant use of multiple prescription drugs (�polypharmacy�) is increasingly common, with 10% of the population and 30% of older adults in the United States taking five or more drugs simultaneously. Similarly, high prevalence is reported in other countries (e.g., the United Kingdom, Sweden, China, Brazil, and India. The prevalence of polypharmacy is driven by high rates of comorbidities (in the United States in 2012, 26% of all adults, and 61% of adults over 65 years of age had two or more chronic conditions) and exacerbated by clinical practices enabling over-prescription and insufficient monitoring. Drug-related morbidity has become a substantial healthcare burden: in the United States, adverse drug reactions are prevalent (causing 4 hospitalizations per 1000 people each year), serious (among top 10 common causes of death), and expensive (with associated annual costs estimated at US$30billion to US$180billion).