|
|
The average older adult in the United States takes five prescription drugs per day. Half of these drugs contain a sedative. Alcohol should therefore be avoided by most senior citizens because of the dangerous interactions between alcohol and sedatives.
For about 100 years, scientists thought that peptic ulcers were caused by stress, spicy food, and alcohol. Later, researchers added stomach acid to the list of causes and began treating ulcers with antacids. Now it is known that peptic ulcers are predominantly caused by Helicobacter pylori, a spiral-shaped bacterium that normally exist in the stomach.
According to the FDA, adverse drug events harmed or killed approximately 1,200,000 people in the United States in the year 2015.
In most cases, kidneys can recover from almost complete loss of function, such as in acute kidney (renal) failure.
Approximately 25% of all reported medication errors result from some kind of name confusion.