ALL ABOUT SELF-MEDICATION
Meena Parulekar – Gomantak Times – Weekender, 20 June 2010
Self-medication is quick and convenient, making it an appealing alternative to consulting a doctor. Meena Parulekar finds out if there are any bitter pills to swallow when it comes to self-medication
Shreya has had a splitting headache for the past two days. Unable to concentrate on her work, she pops tablets of aspirin every two hours to make her feel better. The headache does subside mildly, but she now complains of acidity and stomach pain.
Shreya is among those many of us who, at some point or the other, have indulged in self-medication.
An ambiguous phenomenon, self-medication has attracted the attention of the medical fraternity worldwide. Heard synonymously with over-the-counter products, self-medication has been debated on both its benefits and risk fronts. Self-medication is possible with non-prescription or over-the-counter medicines simply because there is no medical intervention required. In certain ways, the customer – in this case, the patient — has a choice to be exercised like many other consumer products.
An effort to streamline the products that can be successfully self-medicated has been compiled in a WSMI (World Self-Medication Industry) forum that brings together self-medication guidelines for developed countries of the world.
WHY SELF-MEDICATE?
What, then, is self-medication? It is the treatment of common health problems with medicines especially designed and labelled for use without medical supervision and approved as safe and effective for such use.
The objective of self-medication is primarily to enable an individual to understand his/her own health requirements and work as a tool in providing responsible self-care. This becomes even more important in the current state of affairs where the focus has shifted towards prevention of disease rather than cure. Both the level of information available to a health-conscious consumer and the options to promote healthy living have increased manifold in the last decade.
RESPONSIBLE SELF-MEDICATION
Can self-medication really help? If so what is responsible self-medication?
Responsible self-medication: where a patient is able to correctly diagnose his minor ailment, and has sufficient information available about the medicine/s he needs to use so as to make a “responsible” decision whether to use a medicine, which, how much, when, etc and also knows when to stop self-treatment and go to a doctor. The benefits are many, since for every little ailment, one need not rush to a medical practitioner.
Also, considering the fact that these drugs have a well established safety profile and are being used in
low doses makes the patient feel comfortable using them.
However, there is a thin dividing line separating self–medication from abuse of drugs. In a country like ours, this has grown to become a problem of serious nature. From cough and cold remedies to antibiotics and CNS acting agents, a number of drugs have been misused. One of the most important issues highlighted is the ease of availability of these medicines at pharmacies.
According to Raj Vaidya, a Panjim-based community pharmacist, it is common knowledge across the country that, unfortunately, many times one can easily get almost any prescription medicine without producing a prescription – and this includes habit forming medicines and medicines of abuse. So in India, self-medication is not restricted to OTC medicines, it very largely extends to prescription medicine self-medication, which of course is dangerous.
Some of the associated variables with self medication that could be highlighted are:
- Availability of drugs over the counter
- Counselling by the pharmacist
- Level of literacy of the patient/customer
- Information availability of over-the-counter drugs
- Demographic profile of the patient/customer
- Nature of relationship/rapport with the retail pharmacist
- Urgency of need for the patient
BEFORE SELF-MEDICATING
The concept of responsible self-medication has a major deterrent in the form of insufficient information available along with products that can be successfully self-medicated in India. Neither the advertisements nor the labels of the medicine or package inserts provide complete information to the patient in an easy to understand language.
In developed countries, self-medication is more like a social phenomenon. Accepted and practiced by many, products that can be easily self-medicated come with a host of related information, packaging and other benefits. The patient thus, at any point in time is able to comprehend and understand the role of the non-prescription medicine in promoting his health.
As consumers of the medicine, before we choose to self-medicate, it is important that we are aware about simple, but important, facts like:
- Interactions among drugs used for treating different conditions
- Possibility of individual allergies/sensitivities
- Misuse of medication
- Incomplete dosage regimen and its effects
- Storage of the medicine
For Shreya, it implies either to go through some pain and opt for home remedies or take another antiacidity pill for fast relief. There are always options available, but the onus is on us to decide. Shreya could still choose to call her doctor before popping up the next pill!
[The writer is faculty at the Marian Institute of Healthcare Management and can be contacted at meena.sahib@marianinstitute.in]