ABSTRACT
This chapter presents three diverse but inextricably interwoven perspectives – sociological, pharmacological and psychophysical – for interpreting women's circumstances and behaviours as they age. The use of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical medicines increases with age, with an estimated 76 per cent of American women 60 years of age and over using two or more prescription medications and 37 per cent using five or more prescription medications. Health professionals caring for women as they age are often confronted by complex clinical cases involving chronic conditions being managed via multiple medicines. The most common conditions affecting women aged 50 years or over that are managed with medicines are cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dyslipidaemia, osteoporosis diabetes and pain associated with osteoarthritis. The most frequently reviewed interactions are those associated with pharmaco-dynamic alterations caused by popular herbal medicines.
