Multimorbidity and polypharmacy -- yeah, what about it? Most people, if they live long enough, end up having to deal with multiple health problems - and taking several medications. I can't grasp the message of the article - they sound as if they just discovered this phenomenon. What IS new is that we keep getting new medications, more means of treating the old illnesses. Thank God, and the Pharma scientists - and the capitalist system - for that!
Having a good choice of treatment options is not a problem, it's the solution, or at least part of it.
As far as all those recently fashionable treatment algorithms and guidelines are concerned, imho if the doctor knows what he's doing, they may be of some help. If he doesn't, the guidelines won't save the day. They'll probably end up being misused in some way.
I think that the recent push for guidelines is part of an underlying... undertow, which has it as its (unmentioned) goal to computerize large chunks of medical decision making. I have no particular arguments against such an effort - but I think it will fail, unless an experienced clinician remains in the center of the process. Humans are not perfect, but machines, in many ways where it counts, are still kinda brain dead. |
