Medicine and Man

Life is very different today from what it was half a century ago. We have achieved more progress in the last fifty years in every aspect of life than in the hundred years preceding them. Yes, technology has made our lives much more convenient, but as with all forms of progress, we are both limited and boosted by the rapid creation of various kinds of drugs. The average life expectancy today has gone up by a decade when compared to what it was fifty years ago. It’s no big deal to live to be 80 or more today, and with drugs available for every ailment under the sun, it’s easy to prolong life in more ways than one.

But if we stop to think for a moment, we would realize the fact that medicines sometimes cause more harm than good, mostly because of our ignorance or because we abuse them knowingly. Take for instance a person who has been prescribed painkillers for a debilitating condition like a headache; seven times out of ten, you can bet that the patient takes them for more than the prescribed amount of time or uses these pills randomly even for perceived symptoms of pain. Some people become so addicted to painkillers that they suffer a relapse if they’re forced to stop. Painkillers have powerful chemicals that affect not just your digestive tract but also your overall physical and mental health.

While this is an instance of substance abuse, ignorance comes to the fore when we’re prescribed antibiotics or any other medication that must be taken for a certain period of time even if you feel better or the symptoms of disease are no longer present. Most people stop taking them when they feel ok, and because of this, variant and new strains of bacteria are formed and cause many more new diseases. Also, some people tend to dose themselves with antibiotics even for colds and other viral infections, thus setting themselves up for various health problems.

Be it the habitual pill popper or the compulsive addict, neither behavior bodes well for progress in the pharmaceutical world. The demand for drugs has also given rise to hundreds of spurious manufacturing units, most of which churn out OTC medicines that end up harming or even taking lives.

In order to maximize the efficiency of drugs and ensure that they do more good than harm, we must:

• Take them only with a prescription.
• Never use them beyond the recommended period or dosage.
• Never self-medicate.
• Never get into the habit of popping a pill for any perceived ailment.
• Always check for expiry dates and authenticity of the drug.

A little common sense goes a long way in making medicine effective and safe.

This article is contributed by Ashley M. Jones, who regularly writes on the subject of Online Pharmacy Technician Certification. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: ashleym.jones643@gmail.com