Too many pills? The worrying rise of polypharmacy in midlife women

What is polypharmacy?

Women in midlife are especially vulnerable to consumer manipulation. Whether they're being sold products that promise to help them look younger, live longer, lose weight, or manage perimenopause, they're increasingly targeted by marketers promoting a range of medications, supplements, and treatments - often implying they need all of them.

This has contributed to the rise of polypharmacy - the practice of taking multiple medications or supplements at the same time, without careful consideration of whether they're necessary or how they might interact. As a result, people can end up taking far more than they need, with no one overseeing the full picture or assessing the cumulative health hazards.

Richa Puri is an independent prescribing pharmacist and registered nutritionist at Richa Puri Hormones. She explains that women in their forties and fifties have become the prime target for a booming longevity industry, which markets products and treatments claiming to slow ageing and extend lifespan.

"They're told they can control how fast they age," she says. "But the practical advice they're given is often a shopping list of tests and pills."

Richa Puri

Why midlife women are being hit hardest

Women in midlife are not only a key target for marketing tactics, but may also be more susceptible to the negative health effects associated with unregulated polypharmacy.

The timing is particularly important. Perimenopause brings significant changes - including shifting hormones, disrupted sleep, weight changes, altered blood sugar regulation, and increased mental health challenges.

It’s also a crucial window for prevention, as long-term health conditions such as heart disease, osteoporosi, and cognitive decline can begin to emerge during your forties and fifties. At the same time, the number of medicines and supplements people are taking is steadily increasing.

“By the time many women find me, they’re on three or four prescriptions and taking a handful of supplements they’ve chosen themselves to ‘target’ hallmarks or biological age,” says Puri.

The pharmacist adds that patients often self-prescribe, creating room for harm without professional healthcare guidance. A woman in midlife may combine prescribed medicines such as HRT, thyroid medication, or weight loss treatments with a growing list of supplements and longevity products.

“Individually, none of these is necessarily unreasonable,” warns Puri. “The risk is in the combination, because no medical professional has reviewed what’s being taken against her history, lab results, and medical priorities.”

What really supports healthy ageing

If you're considering supplements or medications to help manage major life transitions or reduce your chance of developing age-related health conditions, speak to a healthcare professional first. They can help you decide what's appropriate for your individual needs and make sure any treatments or supplements are safe to take together.

Rather than reaching for the latest supplement or longevity product your algorithm has served up, it's worth focusing on a handful of well-established health habits first.

According to Puri, these are likely to have a far greater impact on your long-term health.

• Dai priorità al sonno - for many women, getting hot flushes and night sweats under control with HRT or non‑hormonal medication is the first real longevity intervention. It stabilises sleep and allows your brain and immune system to repair properly.

• Build strength - focus less on weight and more on strength, balance, and metabolic flexibility. Resistance training seems to pay dividends across the longevity hallmarks that matter for blood sugar, bone, and brain.

• Eat well and rethink alcohol - helping women move towards a Mediterranean‑leaning diet and examine their drinking is more impactful than any single supplement for most people.

• Gestisci lo stress - the 45 - 55 window is often peak stress. For example, work, teens, parents, health, and long-term stress shows up in telomeres and inflammatory markers. Sometimes we need medication or therapy here as much as lifestyle advice.

Only after those foundations are in place, Puri says, does she consider whether targeted medications or supplements could be helpful. Depending on the person, that might include HRT to manage severe hot flushes and protect bone health, or carefully chosen supplements to support gut or metabolic health.