About the research
More than half of the older population has to take at least five medicines a day. This is often the case in people suffering from atrial fibrillation, a condition causing the heart to beat super-fast and irregularly. Having to take so many medicines can lead to mistakes, increasing the risk of falls, hospitalisation, or even death. The key to solving this is medication optimisation, which involves checking 1) whether all medicines are really needed, 2) whether medicines are missing to treat certain conditions, and 3) whether some medicines taken by the patient interact badly. Doctors just don't have the time to do this for every patient. That is why Cheima Amrouch (UGent) is working on a different approach.