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In a new study in JAGS, Matthew Growdon found that the average number of medications people with dementia took in the outpatient setting was eight, compared to 3 for people without dementia.\xa0\xa0

In another study in JAGS, Anna Parks found that among older adults with atrial fibrillation, less than 10% of disability could be explained by stroke over an almost 8 year time period.\xa0 She also talked about the need for a new framework for anti-coagulation decisions for patients in the last 6 months of life, based on an article she authored in JAMA Internal Medicine with Ken Covinsky.

In today\u2019s podcast we talk with Matthew and Anna, joined by co-author Mike Steinman, to talk about polypharmacy, deprescribing, where we are and what we need to do to stop this freight train of ever more medications for older adults and those living with serious illness.

We start by addressing the root cause of the problem.\xa0 Clinicians want to \u201cdo something\u201d to help their patients.\xa0 And one thing we know how to do is prescribe.\xa0 It\u2019s much harder psychologically for clinicians to view deprescribing a medication as \u201cdoing something.\u201d\xa0 This attitude needs to change.\xa0 It will take teamwork to get there, with robust involvement of pharmacists, and likely activating patients to advocate for themselves.

And Eric might have mentioned aducanumab a time or two\u2026

-AlexSmithMD