Most medications are developed
for, tested on and targeted to middle-aged, average-sized
adults. Although caution is advised for pregnant or
lactating women, rarely is a patient's age considered
an important factor in the use and dosing of medications.
Drugs are hardly ever tested for effectiveness and/or
safety in the very young or the very old. Yet many medications
that are untested in these groups are commonly prescribed
for these patients — sometimes with disastrous
results. Aside from the variation in size, the young
and old are physiologically different than the middle-aged
adult. The following discussion takes a closer look
at the problem of drug dosing adjustments and lists
some of the meds that pose the greatest risk for the
pediatric and the geriatric patient.
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