Medication Corner

Omeprazole is frequently prescribed to older people.

It is a Protein Pump Inhibitor (PPI) that reduces acidity of the gastric content.

Commonly used to treat gastric reflux conditions, peptic ulcers and preventing ulceration with NSAID’s for instance

It is generally well tolerated and is usually intended for short term therapy.

Long-term treatment can be associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes.

PPIs should only be used when there is a specific clinical indication, and at the lowest effective dose for the shortest period of time.

When appropriate, PPI treatment may be stepped down to a lower dose, or used as needed or stopped completely.

Adverse outcomes: including bone fractures, malabsorption of nutrients (e.g. vitamin B12, magnesium, iron) and increased susceptibility to some bacterial infections.

PPI’s should be taken approximately 30 minutes before food.

Review resident charts and consider:

1. Why was it started?

2. How long have they been taking it

3. Should we talk with the doctor and resident about reducing the dose and if symptoms do not re-emerge, consider stopping.

Check out references:

• bpac nz 2019 Stopping protein pump inhibitors in older people-https://bpac.org.nz/2019/ppi.aspx

• New Zealand Formulary

• Deprescribing.com

DID YOU KNOW?

New Zealand Formulary is a great free resource available to all health care professionals. You can easily look up any medications you may not be familiar with or learn more about common ones.

It can be found at: https://nzf.org.nz/nzf_1 or you can just put NZ formulary into your search engine.

It also includes a page for checking drug to drug interactions and it is easy to use. So, if you have time or have a medication prescribed that you are unfamiliar with, check this website out.

Much better than just going straight to Dr. Google