Our 88-year-old Father, Pulled off Three of his Medications, is back Playing Bridge Again

by Margaret J. McMaster
(Kingsville, Ontario)

Our family has recently witnessed the remarkable improvement in our 88-year-old father when an astute specialist in internal medicine pulled him off three of the medications he'd been prescribed by his family doctor.

The discontinued medications were:

1) his high blood pressure medication, 2) his cholesterol lowering medication, and 3) a prescription nasal spray.

In four days his blood sugar dropped from 25 to 7, his dizziness was gone, he stopped falling down at night, and his appetite was back!

After two weeks, his memory improved and he was back playing bridge again.

The family is delighted with these improvements!

I recently read Dr. Dennis McCullough's book, "My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing 'Slow Medicine', the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones", and I was impressed with his insights as to why and how to take less medication as you get older.

It is interesting that Dr. McCullough's experience is that elders later in life do better on almost no medication.