THE OTHER SIDE OF SELF MEDICATION

Modern population who wish to take a greater role in maintaining their own health often think that they are competent to manage their illness. They are unwilling to submit themselves to the inconvenience of visiting a doctor thinking that they can deal with it if sufficient information is gathered, which is readily available at a click. Now most of drugs are available without the prescription of a doctor and the availability of drugs other than in drug shops also contributed to the issue. The adverse effects of such practices should be emphasized to the society and steps should to be taken to tackle the problem.

Self-medication is a global phenomenon. It is very common in conditions like headache, common cold, fever and diarrhea. This self-medication is prevalent in all fields of health care like modern medicine, Ayurveda and homoeopathy. The irrational use of medicine without medical guidance have resulted in inappropriate therapy, missed diagnosis, delayed appropriate treatment, pathogen resistance and increased morbidity.There is a general notion among the population that herbal remedies are totally safe. But this is a false belief, as any drug, herbal medicines also should be standardized and should be taken only under the guidance of a medical practitioner. Folk medicine which uses herbal remedies based on traditional belief is an alternative medicine quite popular among the world population. Even though there is a genuine side of healing in this system, there is a chance of getting misused by fraud people who declare themselves to be an expert in the field. This often leads to potentially dangerous side effects of folk medicines.

Even modern medicine is dealing with the problem of self-medication . Antibiotic resistance and the superbugs are a part of that. Antibiotic resistance is a naturally occurring phenomenon which cannot be stopped, but can be definitely slowed down by appropriate use of these according to the prescription of registered medical practitioner.

Misuse of prescription drugs is also a growing threat faced by the health care providers. Here people take medicine in the manner or dose other than prescribed or take someone else’s prescription. Completing the full course of treatment, even if you feel better is equally important like the above. Childhood and geriatric illnesses are the other field where we commonly see the misuse of drugs. Majority of childhood illness are even today treated without consulting a doctor. This in turn lead to other major health issues. Old aged people are equally vulnerable to such consequences due to the bodily changes they equired during the aging process. To curtail this dangerous use of drugs in self medication, reforms in production and distribution and standardization of drugs at national level and education at the community level are recommended. It would be always safe if the people using the drugs have sufficient knowledge about its dose, time of intake and side effects of the drug. Doctors should be encouraged to educate the patients about the same during the first visit of the patient make sure that the course of the treatment will be completed by the patient. In developing and underdeveloped countries even poverty can become a cause of incomplete treatment. Measures should be taken that medical support is available in sufficiency and drugs for highly prevalent diseases available at minimum cost. It is also noted that the drugs which are only available with prescription in developed countries are available without prescription in developing countries. So there is definitely a need to augment awareness and Implement legislations to promote judicious and safe drug practices.