It looks people in the country are reconciled to fact that the Covid Virus is not going to go that easily from our lives. Now everyone is anxiously waiting for the vaccine to arrive so that life can come back to normal. The vaccine has been put on trial in many countries including India, but vaccine can not be so easily launched for commercial use, there are some regulations by the authorities before the vaccine is available to masses. It is said that minimum time for vaccine to be used in public can be 2 years minimum .Now if the vaccine is launched without proper trials then there may be many side affects and repercussions, which no one can predict. So let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Now coming to my other topic of the day:
SELF MEDICATION is something that all of us are guilty of, at some point of time or other. It is not bad to try out some proven home remedies for common illnesses or take a Crocin/Dolo for a fever. It is important to know that there can be serious implications or limitations of self medication.
Medicines are prescribed by all doctors on the basis of certain tests, diagnosis, and considering your body’s condition. Hence what works for one, may never really work for another. There is also a possibility that it could actually backfire and cause you more harm than dong good. Hence for any slightly serious issue, it is always better not to go foe self medication or even on the basis of anyone’s suggestion, other than a qualified doctor. Let us take a look at what all could go wrong if you self medicate.
Incorrect diagnosis
There was once a case, when a mother took her daughter to a doctor, and informed the doctor that she thought her daughter is suffering from food poisoning. The doctor sternly replied her “ Please tell me the symptoms and course of events, and allow me to diagnose what the problem could be”. As it turned out, the issue was something more serious which require more tests and scans. This is an example how we can be wrong, without understanding health issues. We presume that we know and understand the symptoms and why it happened and we could by actually wrong. Hence, when we medicate ourselves, we could be actually doing so on the basis of presumed diagnosis which could be grossly wrong.
Allergy or adverse reactions
When we normally visit a doctor for a particular issue, the doctor carefully listens to the symptoms, checks them out, prescribes a few tests if necessary, checks out medical as well as family history and then prescribes the medicines. It is quite possible that we are allergic to certain medicines or few other regular medicines which we are taking for other issues, and when taken in combination with something else can cause some adverse reactions. This is one other reason why self medication should be avoided.
Incorrect dosage
The doctor is also the best judge of what could be right dosage for your body. Just like how kids are given a different dosage of the same medicine, most people will also need different dosages. Incorrect dosages also can cause lots of trouble, needing medical intervention.
Side affects
Almost all medicines have side affect one way or other. When we do not know about these, we may end up creating more problem for the actual issue and distress for us as well. The doctors who prescribe the medicines clearly know the side effects and would have either warned us or relief for such things as well.
What are the alternatives
The first and foremost thing is to ensure that you always have your prescription ready for your regular medication. If you find any other issues, visit the doctor. Now a days there are many groups on the internet who provide timely help on medical issues, as they have many doctors on the panel for their members, who can give you proper medicines. Even these groups can provide you with medicines, if you can not go out and buy medicines. The procedure is you upload your prescription on their site and order required quantity of medicines. The payment either can be made through on line payment portals or you can pay cash on delivery.
Hope the above information will be useful.
Waiting for your views/feed backs/comments.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
18th August 2020.
R. N. Mungale.
True. Corona virus is not going to go in the near future .
Good information about self medication.