Posts Tagged ‘Guest Post’

Guest Post: Do Drugs Cause More Harm Than Good?

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

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

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The Definition of Pandemic

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Guest Post:

The word pandemic has been thrown around in recent years because of the prevalence of many major illnesses that have occurred throughout the third world nations as well as even many Western nations. However, the recent Swine Flu outbreak has caused much deliberation as to the proper terminology of the word itself.

There have been generations of widespread epidemics in the past that have included influenza, cholera, and a multitude of other diseases. However, the World Health Organization has come up with a six-tiered level in which to determine when to implement specific disease control efforts around the world, which has successfully led to many countries quarantining illnesses which could be easily spread abroad. However, the true definition of a pandemic is not delivered by the WHO nor can medical journals accurately define it as well. Rather, the general public is on its own to determine what a pandemic ensues, as it implies the “rapid spread of an infectious disease to many countries”. However, the severity of pandemics vary with each disease, and not every country is affected when an outbreak occurs.

Additionally, the variety of different illnesses affects the overall terminology of the word; scientists and doctors alike are still unsure as to how pandemics arise, how they spread, and why they vary in their lethality. The background of the originating country has a lot to do with the severity and contamination of the impending illness and helps contribute to the overall definition of a pandemic. The recent Swine Flu outbreak has increased concerns over the spread of a disease within these “Western nations” which otherwise were remarkably protected from threat of outside illnesses that could infiltrate these nations. The fact that the United States was one of the first countries to report signs of such a disease caused the WHO to scramble to upgrade their alert system in order to properly take care of this problem. It is unfortunate that it takes a Western nation to cause this much concern over an illness, while many African nations have been experiencing similar epidemics. The new limelight on these Western nations is solely due to the international trade that occurs within many of these nations, which therefore caused the disease to be spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.

This new illness caused the WHO much stress as to a proper cure for the illness as well as a way in which to quarantine travelers from disease-ridden countries. While the illness can be treated with regular flu remedies, the fact that so many outside the tradition flu age group were coming down with the illness and succumbing to its side effects caused the WHO to take drastic measures and qualify it (perhaps prematurely) as a pandemic. This recent flu outbreak is vastly different from any earlier outbreaks which may be labeled as “true” pandemics, but this type of definition is forever changing and it may take another widespread illness before we can determine what is the proper scenario in which to classify as a pandemic.

This post was contributed by Meredith Walker, (Online nursing schools). She welcomes your feedback at MeredithWalker1983 at gmail.com

References: WHO Pandemic Phase Descriptions (pdf)

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