How does age affect pharmacokinetics?

Age significantly influences pharmacokinetics, particularly in older adults who often exhibit altered drug metabolism. As individuals age, various physiological changes occur, including decreased liver size and blood flow, reduced enzyme activity, and variations in body composition, which can lead to impaired drug metabolism. This means that older adults may metabolize drugs more slowly than younger individuals, leading to prolonged drug exposure and a higher risk of adverse drug reactions.

In contrast, the notion that younger individuals metabolize drugs faster holds true to some extent, especially in childhood, but does not fully capture the complexities of age-related metabolism. While it is also a fact that pharmacokinetics can be affected during the absorption stage, claiming that age only affects absorption overlooks the broader pharmacokinetic profile influenced by age, including distribution, metabolism, and excretion. The idea that there is no significant effect of age on pharmacokinetics fails to recognize the critical impact that aging has on drug processing within the body, leading to the conclusion that older adults typically exhibit impaired drug metabolism.