How Can Older Adults Take Many Medicines Safely? Reading the Medication Risks, the Five Review Steps and the Sample Medication List

The clinic notes that older adults often take five or more prescriptions, plus vitamins and over-the-counter remedies picked up along the way. Kidney and liver function also change with age, so a dose that worked at 55 may be too strong at 80. Several doctors may each prescribe sensibly without seeing the whole list, so duplicates and interactions can slip in.

For reliable background, see the National Institute on Aging's health information and the National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus drug information. Our guide on geriatric care in Elmhurst explains the clinic's wider approach.

The graph below is an illustrative guide, not clinic data, to how the chance of an interaction or side effect generally rises as the number of medicines grows. It shows why reviewing the list matters.

As the clinic describes it, a review goes like this:

1. Bring every bottle, including eye drops, inhalers, sleep aids, herbal products, and anything prescribed by another doctor.
2. Your provider goes through each one: why you take it, whether it is still needed, whether the dose fits your current kidney function, and whether a simpler option exists.
3. The team checks for duplicates, which happen often when several specialists prescribe.
4. Clinicians use tools such as the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria to flag drugs often inappropriate after 65; if a change is needed, the reason is explained and doses are adjusted gradually when that is safer.
5. The clinic coordinates with the prescribing specialist before stopping anything, and you leave with an updated written list you can share with family, pharmacists, and hospitals.

Learn about the Beers Criteria at the American Geriatrics Society.

Dizziness and falls are closely linked. The clinic's fall-risk assessment includes reviewing medicines; see the CDC's STEADI falls resources.

Keep a current list in your wallet and on your phone, and give a copy to family. The table below is a blank template with one invented example row, not a real record.

Also write down:

• Allergies and past bad reactions
• Over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products
• Your pharmacy and its phone number
• Names and phone numbers of all your prescribers
• Date the list was last updated

Kidney and liver function are checked with blood work; see our guide on common blood tests.

To book a medication review, use the clinic's appointment page and choose Geriatric Care, and bring every bottle. See also the clinic's chronic disease management page.

Safer medicine use is not about taking fewer pills for the sake of it. It is about making sure each medicine has a reason, a correct dose, and a place on a list that everyone can read. A regular medication review, with every bottle on the table, is the single most useful step.

Contact Us: To ask about a medication review or senior primary care, reach City Prime Care through our Contact Us page, or find the clinic on Google: City Prime Care on Google. This article is for general information and does not replace personal medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.