Pharmacotherapy of Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders in the Elderly

Aylin ARICIa , Abdullah Serkan YENERb

aDokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, İzmir, Türkiye
bDokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, İzmir, Türkiye

ABSTRACT
Depending on advancing age, changes are observed in the functions of endocrine organs as well as in all organs. The frequency of endocrine diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, osteoporosis, and adrenal insufficiency increases with advancing age. Since clinical drug trials are frequently conducted in patient volunteers aged 18-65 years, there is insufficient evidence regarding the use of drugs in the treatment of all these endocrine diseases in the geriatric population. It is of great importance to treat endocrine diseases in the geriatric population by taking into account the age characteristics of the patients, considering the comorbidities existing in the patients in the selection of drugs, and considering drug-drug interactions. In this review, the pharmacotherapy of these endocrine and metabolic diseases, which are common in geriatric patients, is discussed.
Keywords: Drug therapy; geriatrics; endocrine system diseases

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