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It is not uncommon that I see new patients come into the office taking 5 or more medications. As people grow older, it becomes increasingly common to take medications for multiple chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, or osteoporosis. This is especially true when people do not have an integrative or functional doctor as part of their healthcare team. While each medication may be appropriate on its own, the combination of several medications—known as polypharmacy—can create additional health risks. Polypharmacy is commonly defined as taking five or more prescription medications at the same time. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that older adults taking five or more prescription medications had a significantly higher risk of death than those taking fewer medications, even after researchers accounted for age, medical conditions, kidney function, liver function, lifestyle factors, and other medication-related risks.
Every medication has potential benefits, but each also carries the possibility of side effects and interactions. As the number of prescriptions increases, so does the chance that medications may interfere with one another or produce unwanted effects such as dizziness, fatigue, confusion, falls, low blood pressure, or impaired thinking. Interestingly, the researchers found that simply taking five or more medications remained independently associated with higher mortality, whereas other medication risks—such as potentially inappropriate medications or major drug-drug interactions—were no longer independently associated after statistical adjustments. This finding highlights that the overall burden of multiple medications deserves careful attention rather than focusing only on individual drugs.
The study reinforces the importance of periodically reviewing every prescription, over-the-counter medication, and dietary supplement with a knowledgeable healthcare professional. This process, often called deprescribing when appropriate, aims to determine whether each medication is still necessary, whether doses remain appropriate, and whether safer alternatives or lifestyle interventions might reduce medication needs. Nutrition, regular physical activity, quality sleep, stress management, smoking cessation, and maintaining a healthy weight can all improve chronic disease management and may, in some cases, reduce reliance on medications under medical supervision.
People with health problems need support. The typical medical therapy is often prescription drugs. My goal is to minimize or get patients off prescription drugs unless absolutely necessary. In some cases the correct supplementation, along with diet and lifestyle changes, can work as well or better than certain medications.
Chaitoff, A., Jungo, K. T., Min, L., & Maust, D. T. (2026). Assessing associations of three types of higher-risk medication use and mortality in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.70569
