Incremental advances in pharmaceuticals provide the elderly with more treatment options and improved health outcomes.

Major advances in drug therapy and patient care often come from incremental improvements - the development of new, enhanced agents within existing drug classes. Having access to a variety of options within a therapeutic class of medicines is particularly important for older patients.

Elderly patients require individually tailored care because of the complex and various nature of health care as we age. These variations include the presence of multiple chronic diseases, and the physiological changes that accompany aging. The evolution of drug therapies through incremental innovation allows physicians to treat patients with more than one condition by choosing from a variety of medications within a therapeutic class to avoid potentially dangerous drug-to-drug interactions or drug-to-disease interactions.

Physiological changes associated with aging also affect the outcomes of drug therapy. For example, as people age, the amount of drug absorbed will vary due to changes in some organs. Similarly, aging is associated with a decline in function of certain metabolic pathways. Many drugs are broken down (or metabolized) in the liver and if there is a decline in liver function, certain drugs may be more appropriate than others in the same class.
Medications for a specific illness can produce a diverse response in patients. Incremental innovations in pharmaceutical therapy provide the physician with a choice of treatment options which allows for care to be tailored to each patient’s needs. This is particularly important for the treatment of elderly patients because of their special needs and diverse response to medications.