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In older patients, polypharmacy (5 or more regular prescriptions) has been associated with risks for falls, disability, and death, over and above risks associated with the illnesses the drugs are intended to treat. To examine the association between polypharmacy and falls in more detail, Canadian researchers prospectively evaluated gait patterns among 249 older adults (age, ≥65) without gait-impairing neurological diagnoses. At baseline, the 176 patients who were taking more than five medications (mean, 9 prescriptions) were older, had more diagnosed illnesses, reported more falls in the previous year, and (on formal gait testing) walked considerably more slowly and haltingly than the other 73 patients. During 5 years of follow-up, gait par…