The nurse knows to assess for signs of medication toxicity within older persons because of which physiological change?

Question

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The degree to which medications bind to serum proteins,such as albumin,affects the medication's distribution.Medications bound to albumin cannot exert pharmacological activity.The unbound,or free,medication is the active form of the medication.Older persons have a decrease in albumin in the bloodstream,which is probably the result of a change in liver function.The same is true for patients who have liver disease or malnutrition,who,along with older persons,have the potential for more medication to be unbound and thus may be at risk for an increase in medication activity or toxicity,or both.

The Nurse Knows to Assess for Signs of Medication Toxicity