Nearly one in 10 people suffer from diseases related to their use of medicines – and 40 percent of those cases are entirely avoidable, according to a new study of Swedes.
The conclusions, which are part of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, indicate 12 percent of adults in Sweden are sickened by medications designed to boost their health.
For the study, lKatja Hakkarainen and her colleagues reviewed 7,099 questionnaires and 4,970 patient medical records in Östergötland to map drug-related deaths. They tracked side effects, toxicity, the development of drug dependence, and the insufficient effect of drugs.
The results showed that the medical records indicate 12 percent of all adults in Sweden experienced some form of drug-related death, primarily from unintended side effects from the medicines.
At the same time, the medical records indicated four deaths of 10 could have been prevented.
"Our results show that drug-related morbidity is a significant public health problem, and that it must be prevented across the whole of the healthcare sector," said Hakkarainen, who is a pharmacist.
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