More dangerous than self diagnosis is self medication.Many in India do it.
Recently one of my patient,a 60 year old woman was admitted for blurred vision and giddiness on standing up. She was on regular medications for high blood pressure and this time on admission her blood pressure was very low. She said she had severe headache from morning.She thought it was because of high blood pressure and so she took an additional dose of her blood pressure reducing medicine.This self medication resulted in blurred vision and giddiness due to low blood pressure.
Tendency to continue taking medicines that produced immediate relief is very common.Most of the pharmacies in India give refills for old prescription with out any question.
Pain Killers are usually abused like that.Excessive use can produce Kidney and Liver damage.
One of my patient was using one such drug everyday for 20 years and she finally landed up with chronic kidney failure. Oral Steroid tablets are very popular among asthmatics and is easily available and cheap.Continuous use of Steroids can result in thinning of bones,Diabetes,recurrent infections etc.
Why people continue this dangerous habit of self medication?Is it just ignorance?
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About Me
- Arun.N.M.
- I am a doctor,an MD in Internal Medicine,working in India Contact me at doc6568@gmail.com
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1 comment:
Thanks for the information on self-medication.
We recently wrote an article on self-medication for mental illness at Brain Blogger. Accurate diagnosis is a crucial part to accurate treatment and management of any illness or medical condition, and mental health is no exception. Taking over-the-counter remedies without any professional expertise or guidance can lead to a dangerous outcome.
We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kelly
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