The population of the industrialised nations is ageing. By 2020 those of 65 years and older will constitute nearly 17% of the US population; it is predicted that the proportion of the population aged 80 years and over will then range from 3.5 to 6.5%, around the world. Those over 65, due to age-related chronic disease and more prophylactic prescribing, receive a disproportionate number of drugs; in the UK for example, 45% of the total prescriptions dispensed. Older patients may benefit from prophylactic treatments to a greater extent than younger people because of a higher absolute risk of disease and it is therefore important that they are not inappropriately denied these. However, it is also important that, as each additional drug prescribed brings an increased risk of an adverse drug effect, prescribers have enough knowledge of pharmacological issues in old age to enable them to weigh up these conflicting pressures to arrive at good prescribing decisions.
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