Medication for the elderly

The elderly should use some principles to ensure the efficacy, but also to avoid or reduce adverse reactions.
What principles should be used to ensure that the elderly can not only ensure the efficacy, but also to avoid or reduce the occurrence of adverse reactions?
(1) if necessary, try not to use drugs or less;
(2) medication should be guided according to the doctor, should not be a child advocate, casual medication;
(3) to reduce the number of drugs used at the same time; perhaps you use several drugs to produce better therapeutic effect, but can sometimes produce harmful toxic and side effects.
(4) do not abuse drugs; improper use of drugs is also harmful. Such as long-term overdose of ginseng, will cause "ginseng syndrome", the performance of blood pressure, insomnia, irritability, irritability and other symptoms, which did not get its benefits against its harm.
(5) the old drugs should be started in small dose for the elderly; function of liver and kidney impairment, body balance ability, generally lower tolerance to drugs, in order to avoid the adverse reaction of drugs should be started in small dose.
(6) special attention should be paid to the individual differences in the use of drugs for the elderly. The so-called individual difference is that the sensitivity of different patients to drugs is very different. Individual differences caused by many reasons, and the elderly body function decline, detoxification of drugs, excretion function is poor, it is more prominent than young people. In order to avoid drug poisoning, we must pay attention to individual differences.
(7) avoid the use of strong, easy to cause poisoning drugs;
(8) drug addiction can not be used for a long time;
(9) avoid the use of drugs that are not suitable for the elderly;
(10) to help and care for the elderly in all aspects, so that timely and accurate medication.