It is a topic of public health importance as it affects the economy of a population.
The drugs that are at a great risk of being self medicated are Over the counter drugs. These are drugs that are sold without a prescription. They are easily purchased from just anywhere.
Who is at Risk?
Everyone is at risk of getting involved in self medication. The old, the young, the rich, the poor. It is a condition that cuts across all age groups, all social classes, all genders and all regions. It is most common in the following categories of people.
1. Students: Research have shown that Students are highly vulnerable to self medication. As a result of who they mingle with,they are at great risk of unconsciously getting the wrong information and hence making it fact for themselves. They are a very observant set of people. When they see or hear that their friends and classmates took a particular drug when they were ill, they themselves tend to run to the same set of drugs when they are ill.
2. House wives: These are a neglected group of people who have a huge impact on the society. Most of them are depressed and resort to taking drugs that they believe would take care of the depression. Asides depression, they are the home makers and the first contact to their kids. When they indulge in self medication, their kids and husband are involved as well.
According to a research done by Kaushal et al in 2012,
Self-medication was most commonly based on the previous prescriptions issued by the doctors followed by the suggestions from friends, advertisement on the television, and newspapers. For most of them the reasons for self-medication were financial restraints and lack of time to go to the medical practitioner.
3. Bankers: A research showed that 80% of the bankers that participated in the research practice self medication. These group of people are prone to taking hypnotics commonly known as sleeping drugs. Most of the look forward to the weekend when they can freely take this and sleep as long as they can.
4. Bodybuilders: There is a popular saying that...
You are either a bodybuilder who takes Steroids and growth hormone or you are a bodybuilder who does not.
There is nothing wrong with taking drugs as a professional bodybuilder. It is in fact seen as the cornerstone of the industry but sadly many take it wrongly and hence are at risk of facing the consequences that come with it.
5. Tourists: These are a group of people that are at risk of self medication. This could be as a result of time lag and also the stress that come with travelling to many countries and continent. Many resort to hypnotics, some even take so much because they believe wrongly that the efficiency will be increased by the dose.
Other categories at risk include:
- Athletes: energy boosters,
- Delinquent teenagers,
- Old people,
- Chemists.
Source of information
People resort to self medication most times because they think they have gotten enough information. Their source of information could be from:
- Social Media,
- Internet,
- Friends,
- Previous prescriptions,
- Books.
Conditions that are prone to being self medicated
- Malaria,
- Dieting,
- Insomnia drug,
- Depression,
- Fever,
Dangers of Self medication
1. Expired medication: People that practice self medication are at risk of taking expired drugs. They tend to take their previous medication that they probably didn't finish. These drugs could just be expired. Many go to local medicine shops to buy drugs that might have been expired.
2. Worsened illness: As a result of treating self diagnosed illnesses with the wrong drugs, these illnesses tend to get even worse. Sometimes masking the original illness and making diagnosis more difficult.
3. Drug Resistance: When the right drugs are used in the wrong concentration, drug resistance is most likely going to happen. This is like a time bomb waiting to explode. Once resistance sets in, treating the original illness becomes very difficult.
4. Organ damage: The Liver is involved in metabolism of drugs. Using the wrong drugs can affect the kidneys. Overdose of drugs can also cause renal failure. Some drugs are toxic to the heart and other organs,and can cause cardiac toxicity.
Other grave dangers of self medication include
- Psychosis,
- Death.
Further reading
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