Main description:

This book summarizes the broad and rapidly evolving field of geriatric pharmacotherapy, which is becoming increasingly relevant for practicing physicians who care and prescribe medications for older patients. Around the globe, ageing populations are associated with an increased prevalence of chronic diseases. Older adults are often affected by multimorbidity, i.e., suffer from more than one chronic disease. The main consequence of multimorbidity is polypharmacy, which is commonly defined as the regular use of five or more medicines. Polypharmacy has now reached epidemic proportions in our societies, and is associated with an increased risk of drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions and adverse drug reactions. The management of polypharmacy in older patients with complex multimorbidity poses several challenges and needs to be based on specific knowledge and prescribing expertise.

The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive update on the field, and to share the expertise needed to optimize the management of pharmacotherapy in older patients.

Contents:

Section 1: General issues1. The impact of ageing on pharmacokinetics2. Polypharmacy: Definition, Epidemiology, Consequences and Solutions3. Drug-Drug and Drug-Nutrients Interactions: From Theory to Clinical Relevance4. Inappropriate Prescription of Medicines5. Prescribing Cascades6. Adverse Drug Reactions in Older People: a 21st Century View7. Adherence: How to Measure and Improve It8. Medication reconciliation and review: theory, practice and evidence.9. The role of pharmacists in optimizing drug therapy10. Deprescribing: Evidence base and implementationSection 2: Geriatric syndromes and common chronic conditions11. General principles of management of patients with multimorbidity and frailty12. Frailty and Drug Therapy13. Falls and Impaired mobility 14. Delirium15. Incontinence16. Constipation17. Pain18. Hypertension19. Heart Failure20. Pharmacological treatment of cognitive and behavioral disorders in dementia21. Pharmacological treatment of osteoporosis in older patients22. Chronic respiratory disease: COPD, IPF 23. Diabetes24. Stroke therapeutics in the care of older persons 25. Optimizing pharmacotherapy in older patients with depression or anxiety26. Nutritional Deficiency and Malnutrition27. Pharmacotherapy of Insomnia in older adults28. Chronic kidney disease29. Palliation at End of Life