Summer’s Heat Can Negatively Impact Patients and Prescriptions
Risks Increase for Elderly Patients
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 85% of senior citizens in the U.S. are living with one chronic health condition and 60% have two or more. In the best of circumstances, managing a treatment regimen for chronic health issues conditions can be difficult, but when the summer temperatures begin climbing, those challenges can become dangerous.
Rebecca Sleeper, Pharm.D., a clinical pharmacist and senior associate dean for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy, said there are two things to consider when it comes to medication and heat, the first of which is the effect of excessive heat on the medicine itself.