Preventing Medication Overload: Andrew Ting Explains How AI Can Review and Simplify Prescriptions

For many older adults, prescriptions do not pile up all at once; they accumulate slowly. One new diagnosis leads to one new pill, then a specialist adjusts something, then another medication gets added to manage a side effect. Before long, it can feel like the daily routine revolves around bottles and dosing times. Andrew Ting points out that the real issue is not just how many medications someone takes, but whether the whole list still makes sense together. When prescriptions come from different offices and are rarely reviewed as a single plan, the risk of overlap, unwanted interactions, and fatigue or dizziness goes up.

That is where AI can be helpful. It can help clinicians and pharmacists review the full list in one place, spot combinations that commonly cause problems, and simplify the routine without losing control of the conditions being treated.

What Medication Overload Really Looks Like

Medication overload is more than an inconvenience. It often means taking several medications at the same time, sometimes five or more, and dealing with the combined impact. Even if each prescription makes sense on its own, the total load can create new issues. Symptoms linked to medication burden can look like new medical problems, which sometimes lead to another prescription. That cycle is known as the prescribing cascade. In seniors, risk is higher because the body may process drugs more slowly, and the margin for side effects is smaller. Falls, hospitalizations, and cognitive decline are among the outcomes that make this issue so urgent.

AI can be useful during an honest medication review by scanning the current list for overlap, identifying combinations associated with dizziness or confusion, and flagging sequences that resemble a prescribing cascade, especially when a new symptom appears soon after a medication change.

Prepping for the Review: Build a Complete Medication Inventory

The most reliable first step is building a complete inventory of everything being taken. This should not be done from memory. Gather the bottles and boxes, and write each item down clearly.

Your review should include the following categories.

Prescription medications: Include the drug name, dosage, and frequency.

Over-the-counter products: Include common pain relievers, allergy medications, and stomach remedies.

Vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements: These are often forgotten but can affect absorption and metabolism.

Older prescriptions still in the house: Look for expired medications or items that were never officially discontinued.

AI can help at this stage by turning an inconsistent list into a clean, consistent one. It can standardize medication names,detecth duplicates that appear underboth brand and generic names, and highlight items that commonly interact, including certain supplements.

The Critical Conversation: Talking With Your Doctor or Pharmacist

Medication overload improves when patients and caregivers become active participants. A dedicated appointment with a primary care physician for a complete medication review can be a strong next step. Pharmacists are also a key resource because they specialize in medication safety and interaction risks.

These questions can make the review more productive.

Why am I taking this: Identify the purpose of every medication.

Is this still necessary? Some drugs are meant for a limited period, but remain on the list for years.

Could this be causing my symptoms: Ask directly about fatigue, dizziness, confusion, constipation, sleep disruption, or falls.

Can we lower the dose or stop it safely? Discuss tapering when needed, and do not stop a prescription medication without guidance.

AI supports the clinician or pharmacist during this conversation by pulling together medication history, showing when each drug started, and highlighting possible duplication where two medications may be doing the same job.

Simplifying the Regimen: Practical Ways to Reduce Complexity

Once the necessary medications are identified, simplification becomes the priority. The goal is safer adherence and fewer errors, not a complicated schedule.

Common approaches include these options.

Combining doses: In some cases, two separate pills can be consolidated into a combination medication.

Reducing frequency: Switching from twice daily to once daily can improve consistency and reduce missed doses.

Using a medication organizer: Pill boxes and automatic dispensers can reduce double-dosing, especially when memory issues are a concern.

AI can spot opportunities to align medications to fewer dosing times and generate a clearer daily schedule that matches how someone actually lives, not how a chart assumes they live.

The Pharmacist Advantage: A Second Set of Eyes

Pharmacists are often the only professionals who see every prescription in one place. Using a single pharmacy can make interaction checks more effective and help catch issues that arise when multiple specialists prescribe independently. Supplements matter, too, because they can interact with medications and contribute to side effects in subtle ways.

AI can support this work by helping pharmacists focus on what is most clinically relevant for an individual patient, based on age, kidney function, and fall risk. It can also highlight where regimen complexity is creating avoidable errors and where timing can be simplified without changing the intent of treatment.

This is one reason many patients benefit from involving pharmacists in their care plan, especially when several conditions are being treated at once. It also reinforces the broader point that Andrew Ting often returns to: medication safety depends on coordination, not just good intentions.

A Continuous Process, Not a One-Time Fix

Medication overload management is ongoing. Any new specialist visit, new symptom, or significant health change can shift the risk profile. A yearly comprehensive medication review with the primary care team is a simple safeguard, even when things feel stable. Maintaining an updated master list is one of the best protections seniors and caregivers can build into routine care.

AI works best when used consistently, says Dr Andrew Ting. It can keep the medication list cleaner over time, flag rising risk earlier, and support repeatable review habits. In many cases, that support can make it easier to stay on the right medications and avoid the ones that are no longer helping.