The Cost of Not Taking Your Medicine
It’s called medication no-adherence. To sum up, prescription medication and supplement must be taken a s directed. Forgetting or double dosing is 100 percent preventable. Modern tools like an automatic pill dispenser with alarms and timer should be the base of medication management .
The numbers are struy shocking. For example, 2015 studies show that 25%-35% of prescriptions never even get filled. Furthermore, 50% of prescriptions for chronic disease, such as high blood pressure, are not taken as directed.
This was reported from a review in Annals of Internal Medicine.
- “When people don’t take the medications prescribed for them, emergency department visits and hospitalizations increase and more people die,” said Bruce Bender, co-director of the Center for Health Promotion at National Jewish Health in Denver. Non-adherence is a gigantic issue. Again, no ‘1″ fix all solution. The reason, so many different reasons why mistakes happen.
The study gives insight into the problem
Most important, it explains why medications don’t work up to expectation in so many patients. In fact, many simply don’t get better. There may be a surprise relapses or even death. Needless to say, when they are given prescriptions that keep them alive.
You may not believe this. In fact, a full 35% of kidney transplant patients are not taking the anti-rejection pills. To illustrate, over 40% of heart attack patients don’t take high blood pressure medications. Finally, 50% of children with asthma either don’t use their inhalers consistently.
“When people don’t take the medications prescribed for them, emergency department visits and hospitalizations increase and more people die,” said Bruce Bender, co-director of the Center for Health Promotion at National Jewish Health in Denver. “Non adherence is a huge problem. Furthermore, there’s no one solution because there are many different reasons why it happens.”
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Still Relying on an “Old Fashion” Pill Box or Ineffective Reminders?
Health care profsionals are in agreement, “For most medications, it is safer to accidentally miss a single dose than to double dose” . Keep in mind that the pill/dosing guidelines vary drastically depending on the medication. For example, it is different for blood thinners or something like birth control.), it is always best to double-check with a professional. If in doubt, call the local pharmacy you got the prescription filled. Also, call e the 
