Psychopharmacology and pharmacokinetics

Abstract

The overall physiologic changes associated with aging lead to changes in both pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic actions of many medications. This, in turn, leads to changes in the impact that a wide variety of medications have on older adults when compared to younger, healthy individuals. These pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variations can cause either lesser or greater than expected responses to medication. Knowledge of the physiologic changes that are expected to occur in the elderly can help to identify medications that may require dose adjustments or that should be avoided, due to increased risk in this population. As a general principle, medications should be started at lower doses in the elderly with slow titration schedules to reduce the risk of adverse effects.

Keywords: Aging; Elderly; Medication; Pharmacodynamics; Pharmacokinetics.