Polypharmacy, appropriate and inappropriate

[摘要] I have seen it asserted that ‘polydactyly’ is an inappropriate word, because it means many digits (fingers or toes), and we all have many digits. This analysis is superficial. The Greek word πoλυ´ς (polus) had several meanings, such as many, mighty, long, and wide. The English prefix poly-usually takes the first of these meanings; polymyalgia means pain in many muscles, polyneuropathy disease of many nerves. However, πoλυ´ς could also mean too much or too many. We all have many red blood cells, so polycythaemia means having too many; someone who drinks too much has polydipsia; and polydactyly means too many fingers or toes. But there is one word in which both meanings are possible — polypharmacy, the prescribing of either many drugs or too many drugs. The term is usually used in the second of these senses, and pejoratively. But polypharmacy can be beneficial, and by itself is not the real problem—the problem is whether each drug has been prescribed appropriately or inappropriately, both individually and in the context of the whole prescription.1,2

[学科分类] 卫生学