Roland Valdes
University of Louisville School of Medicine, USA
Title: Polypharmacy: A Conundrum with a Personalized Laboratory Medicine Solution
Biography
Biography: Roland Valdes
Abstract
Polypharmacy, the simultaneous consumption of multiple medications, is not presently considered a health condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure or other chronic health syndromes. The use of multiple medications is growing at an alarming rate with reports documenting a range of 12 to 22 prescriptions being used on average by individuals >50 years of age. The healthcare consequences range from drug-drug interactions, adverse drug events, prescribing cascades, chronic dependence and hospitalizations, all of which have significant health and economic consequences. Recent attention on precision medicine and personalizing therapeutics, along with advanced health informatics technology, provides the focus needed to manage this condition and avoid its complications. First, however, it is important to recognize polypharmacy as a healthcare condition or syndrome and how clinical laboratory diagnostics can play a role in addressing this national problem. Our discussion centers on the use of laboratory medicine diagnostics in preventing and managing pharmacotherapy with the use of combined pharmacogenetic testing and informatics tools designed to guide selection and dosing of medications. We urge establishing “polypharmacy” as a recognized healthcare syndrome that, if properly managed based on present technologies, can optimize clinical pharmacotherapy, provide a more precise personalized therapeutics and reduce economic burdens.