Self-healing and its effects

Without consulting a doctor, many individuals automatically recognize the symptoms of the disease and begin treatment with medication, which we may call self-medication. In most cases, patients around the world choose self-treatment as the first option.

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 Self-medication is influenced by many factors, such as education, gender, socio-economic status and availability of medicines. First, self-healing is adopted in many areas due to the unavailability of medical services and professionals. This includes self-healing to save costs in economically poor countries with limited health resources.

 Second, the use of the term "self-healing" is often associated with the use of alcohol or drugs. However, one of the meanings of self-healing is the use of over-the-counter medications in a previous illness to prescribe and later prescribe medication or to eliminate the symptoms of the disease. Often people also resort to self-medication to avoid going to the doctor.

 Reasonable self-healing requires a certain level of knowledge and information related to health. However, even in this way, self-healing remains dangerous. Over-the-counter (OTC) is usually the first step to self-healing. Improper use of OTC can have a detrimental effect on health or even a risk to life. This can lead to delays in seeking medical advice, taking inappropriate and ineffective medications, worsening a person's health, increasing side effects and drug reactions, and prolonging the habit if taken for too long. Some of the obvious risks associated with self-medication are:

 * Taking expired medicines

 When you take expired prescribed medications or over-the-counter medications, you run the risk of not getting enough doses to relieve or control your symptoms. Expired drugs may be effective or unsafe to use. Expiration of some drugs can lead to chemical reactions and adverse effects on health.

 * A sign of an undiagnosed serious illness

 Persistent fever and skin rashes may be a sign of some other serious illness. Proper diagnosis is required for effective treatment of this type of serious illness. In some cases, such as diabetes or heart disease, ignoring the signs can increase the risk of serious side effects. If you experience these types of symptoms for more than 5 days, you should immediately seek the advice of a doctor and get the diagnosis done and then take the medicine as per the advice of the doctor.

 * Antibiotic abuse and increase in antibiotic resistance

 Antibiotics have the potential to kill harmful bacteria, but their misuse can have serious side effects. When you do not have a bacterial infection or disease, the use of antibiotics can lead to ineffectiveness. When this happens, the bacteria develop resistance to the effects of antibiotics, which prevents the antibiotics from working. The number of bacteria then multiplies, resulting in the bacteria rendering your treatment ineffective.

 Bacteria also share this immunity with both harmful and beneficial bacteria. For example, when you have a cold or other viral infection, antibiotics will not get rid of the virus. Instead it will build up immunity in these beneficial bacteria and share immunity with the present harmful bacteria.

 Documented drugs that affect health with increasing antibiotic resistance globally and the logical use of such drugs have a major impact on public health, especially in developing countries.

 * Improper dose

 When medications are not taken in appropriate amounts, the risks of self-medication may arise. When you set the dose in your own way, you run the risk of getting a sudden result from over-the-counter medications. Conversely if you take a small amount of medicine it will not be effective and you will not achieve the expected result and your illness will become more serious. As a result, you may take large doses of medication to relieve or control your symptoms, which can lead to overdose.

 Self-medication can often lead to serious illness and, in some cases, even death. Your pharmacist and your physician are a team that works together to protect and maintain your health. Use that team to see a doctor and tell your pharmacist any concerns you may have - which can lead to serious complications that can be avoided, including death.

 Problems with the self-healing model are not very specific, but need to be addressed as soon as possible

 Regulatory bodies need to constantly review and classify drug products on the basis of safety, efficiency and co-operation in enforcing laws and policies.

 There are some rules for adopting self-treatment by the Ministry of Health. For this, provisions relating to reference literature and training activities for healthcare workers are provided to meet the needs of the individual.

 Pharmacists need to be constantly informed and cooperated to ensure that pharmacists maintain their capacity to meet the changing needs of the public health. He should ask for a new prescription from a doctor who is not prescribing the medicine on the old prescription and should not make any change in the medicine or dose.

 National pharmaceutical associations will have to develop specific standards of operation based on the concept of pharmaceutical care.

 Expansion of health insurance services to provide insurance coverage to all can reduce the rate of self-healing.

 Dr. Zuzar Rangwala Consultant (Internal Medicine and Diabetologist)