Dear Friends- I would like to share some information with you as a - TopicsExpress

Dear Friends- I would like to share some information with you as a public service. As I shared last week, my grandmother died on Wednesday. Over the last months of my grandmothers life, our family learned there is something called The Beers List, which is named after a Dr. Beers. It lists medications that are known to have potential side effects in anyone over 65. We were unaware that it is a common problem among seniors to have reactions to medications they may have used when they were younger with no complications. It is my hope that by sharing this information, we can help others avoid what my grandmother endured during the final months of her life. Several months ago, my grandmother was given antibiotics for a bladder infection and as a result of taking that medication, she had an adverse reaction that caused sudden onset dementia and hallucinations. The reaction also caused multiple other physical side effects as well. Her symptoms were extreme and profoundly debilitating and traumatic. Because of her experience, our family became aware that many common medications can induce side effects in older patients. Even as she was dealing with the symptoms that arose from this reaction, her doctor prescribed another medication to try to help alleviate some of her symptoms and it made things worse. The doctor should have been aware that medication was on The Beers List and was known to cause the side effects we saw in her. Not everyone has problems with these medications, but it helps to be aware that it is a possibility and when you are informed, you can make better decisions for yourself or your loved ones and perhaps avoid complications that may not be able to be reversed. So here is a link that you can bookmark and hopefully pass on to others as well so they can become aware of this issue. americangeriatrics.org/files/documents/beers/BeersCriteriaPublicTranslation.pdf