The Perils of Polypharmacy: What Happens When We Take Too Many Drugs?

Thiruvalluvar wrote:

“மருந்தென வேண்டாவாம் யாக்கைக்கு அருந்தியது அற்றது போற்றி உணின்.”

“The body needs no medicine if what has been eaten is properly digested before eating again.”

He reminded us that health depends on what enters the body, how much, and with what consequence.

Today, we face a different question: what happens when we put too many medicines into the same body?

A 2026 global meta-analysis of 545 studies involving more than 16.6 million older adults across 56 countries estimated polypharmacy—commonly defined as five or more medications—at 50.4%.

The concern is unexamined polypharmacy: unnecessary medicines and poorly understood combinations.

Three blind spots illustrate the problem.

1. T ...