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Drug Reactions, Resistance, and Polypharmacy

Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging

Definition

Drug reaction: An unwanted or harmful reaction, experienced following the administration of a drug or combination of drugs under normal conditions of use, which is suspected to be related to the drug.

Drug resistance: The reduction in effectiveness of a medication.

Polypharmacy: The concurrent use of multiple medications by a patient.

Overview

The older population has long represented the largest consumer group of medications. While this might suggest at first glance a pro-active approach by healthcare professionals toward the pharmacological management of disease, it is important to emphasize that the aging process, with or without the presence of common conditions such as chronic kidney disease, liver disease, and heart failure, is associated with significant alterations in the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics of numerous drugs (Mangoni 2005; Mangoni and Jackson 2004; Mangoni and Jarmuzewska 2019; Reeve et al. 2015). Furthermore, older adults, particularly those...

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Correspondence to Arduino A. Mangoni .

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Mangoni, A.A., Ruxton, K., Jarmuzewska, E.A. (2019). Drug Reactions, Resistance, and Polypharmacy. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_540-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_540-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Drug Reactions, Resistance, and Polypharmacy
    Published:
    11 May 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_540-2

  2. Original

    Drug Reactions, Resistance, and Polypharmacy
    Published:
    28 May 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_540-1