Effects of drugs on nutrition

Frail elderly, nutritional status and drugs

This review focuses on the interactions between nutritional status and drugs in frail elderly persons. Impairment of nutritional status, a component of clinical presentation in the frail elderly, has a major impact on the pharmacology of many drugs devolving from the physiological alterations it generates. Food itself plays a central role in nutritional status and in possible interactions with drugs. Conversely, drugs have often, directly and indirectly, a deleterious effect on the nutritional state of the elderly. However, research in this domain is scarce, and future clinical studies will need to include more elderly and frail elderly individuals, to help clinicians to better understand these interactions.

Drug-nutrient interactions

Nutrition status plays a significant role in a drug's pharmacodynamics. Some disease states and other special conditions affect nutrient status and a drug's therapeutic efficacy. Many classes of drugs, including antimicrobials, hypoglycemics, and hypocholesterolemic agents, can be affected by the presence of food, with the geriatric patient particularly at risk. While a drug's pharmacokinetic profile can usually be predicted, it can be modified by nutrients and by certain pathophysiologic conditions, including aging, hepatic dysfunction, and micronutrients.