Health Alert: One in Five Older Americans Take Medications That Work Against Each Other.

More than 20% of medications prescribed to older adults interfere with medications they may be taking for other health concerns, possibly worsening one or more of the conditions for which they’re being treated. Some of the most common competing chronic conditions in which medications for one condition may exacerbate the other include hypertension and osteoarthritis; hypertension and diabetes; hypertension and COPD; diabetes and coronary artery disease; and hypertension and depression. Many health care providers are aware of this problem but there isn’t much information available on how to address it.
PLOS ONE, February 2014