Drug Interactions with Food and Medications

Did you know that the more medicines you take, the greater the chance you'll make a mistake in taking them? Your risk of the medicines interacting with each other increases, too. Drugs can also interact with the food you eat or the beverages you drink. Drugs can interact with chocolate, grapefruit, tea or herbal supplements like St. John's Wort.

Did you know that 40% of people in the US have prescriptions for four or more medicines? That means those people are all at risk of making a mistake and maybe winding up in the hospital.

The way we can keep ourselves safe is to become more knowledgeable and to find clever ways to keep track of what we're taking.

I learned all this last month when I attended a lecture on Medication Management given by Nursing and Home Care, located in Wilton, CT. Elaine Abrams, the nurse who gave the talk also gave us a list of really useful websites where we can learn more about drug interactions, drug safety and general medication management.

I've found a few sites myself, too. My favorite is one run by the FDA:

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm096386.htm

Here are others:

www.consumermedsafety.com 

 www.drugs.com

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/takingmedicines/toc.html

Senior Transportation Study

Access to transportation is essential for seniors to age successfully in their homes. Yet, most communities do not have a coordinated means to help seniors find the transportation that is right for them. This is particularly problematic in rural and suburban areas.

The National Center on Senior Transportation just did a nationwide survey among the Area Agencies on Aging to learn more about needs and how they are being filled. Take a look via this link.
National Center on Senior Transportation:

What is your community doing? In Darien, CT, Aging in Place in Darien has a transportation committee which collects the information and helps to identify gaps in transportation and then tries to fill those gaps. Anyone who needs transportation can call the AIP coordinator to get information on rides via half-price taxi vouchers, Gallivant (senior van), Norwalk Transit, Family and Children's Agency, or via volunteers at local houses of worship. Call Alyssa at: 203-202-2912. Or email her at: aipcoordinator@communityfunddarien.org.

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