142 Pages
by
CRC Press
104 Pages
by
CRC Press
Also available as eBook on:
Five percent of all accident and emergency admissions are caused by prescribed medicines. This figure rises to an alarming twelve percent in elderly patients. This may be through inappropriate use or dosage, side effects, drug:drug interactions, failing metabolism in the liver and reduced excretion by the kidneys. Also, erratic compliance with drug taking by a large proportion of patients... Read more
Contents: Treatment failure due to antacids. Grapefruit juice may cause toxic plasma concentrations of many common drugs. Warfarin. Amiodarone. All NSAIDs (including COX-2 inhibitors). A therapeutic minefield – spironolactone, ACEIs, NSAIDs (old and new) and all diuretics – drugs which disrupt the fine equilibrium of renal function. Sudden cardiac collapse caused by often-prescribed drugs causing QTc interval prolongation. Some important interactions between drugs at shared sites of action and/or therapeutic effect. Serious drug:drug interactions during liver metabolism. Alcohol use (and abuse) causes two serious, little-recognized prescribing pitfalls. Drug monitoring to avoid pitfalls – which drugs? Which tests? How frequently? Drug-induced lung disease, often missed in primary care. Facts the prescriber needs to know about patient non-compliance, and how to improve compliance. Avoiding pitfalls in prescribing for elderly patients. Clinical quizzes. Solutions.
Biography
Hugh McGavock
