Dangerous Liaisons

By Chris Bode Dangerous Liaisons With a large portion of the US population taking multiple prescription drugs and supplements, the increased risk of drug interactions and side effects drives the need for better testing before the medicines reach patients. All illustrations © raquel aparicio My mother-in-law moved in with us when she was 82. As her physical condition gradually deteriorated, the number of medications she w

| 11 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
11:00
Share

My mother-in-law moved in with us when she was 82. As her physical condition gradually deteriorated, the number of medications she was taking for various ailments increased: two for high blood pressure, two to promote gastric motility, one for congestive heart failure, one synthetic thyroid hormone, an expectorant, and two inhalers for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, there was the occasional antibiotic for recurrent pneumonia. The drugs were prescribed by at least three different groups of doctors, none of whom communicated with the others. It soon became difficult to tell a new malady from a side effect of one of the drugs, or a potentially harmful interaction between the combinations of chemicals in her system.

A year or two into her time with us, she started to have an irregular heartbeat, an arrhythmia. After EKGs, a Holter monitor, and stress tests, the arrhythmia was diagnosed as a side ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Chris Bode

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio