You can even ask to record the instructions on your phone. Check out these questions to ask your doctor or nurse. Use these tips to talk with a pharmacist about your medicines. Call the Poison Control Center right away if a child or someone else accidentally uses your medicine.
This information on using medicines safely was adapted from materials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Reviewed by: Danielle M. Molnar, Pharm. Emily B. Use Medicines Safely. Topic navigation Browse Sections Overview. The Basics: Prescription Medicines There are different types of medicine. The 2 categories of medicine are prescription and over-the-counter OTC.
Prescription medicines Prescription medicines are medicines you can get only with a prescription order from your doctor. Take Action: Talk to Your Doctor Take these steps to prevent problems and mistakes with your medicines. Talk to your doctor. Talk with your doctor about drug misuse. Ask questions to make sure you understand. Take Action: Keep Track Keep track of your medicines. Follow these tips to help you keep track of your medicines: Use this resource to make a list of the medicines you use.
Write down how much you use and when you use each medicine. When we think about taking medicines, we often think of pills. But medicines can be delivered in many ways, such as:. No medicine can be sold unless it has first been approved by the U. The makers of the medicine do tests on all new medicines and send the results to the FDA. The FDA allows new medicines to be used only if they work and if they are safe enough. When a medicine's benefits outweigh its known risks, the FDA usually approves the sale of the drug.
The FDA can withdraw a medicine from the market at any time if it later is found to cause harmful side effects.
Medicines act in a variety of ways. Some can cure an illness by killing or halting the spread of invading germs, such as bacteria and viruses. Others are used to treat cancer by killing cells as they divide or preventing them from multiplying. Some drugs replace missing substances or correct low levels of natural body chemicals such as some hormones or vitamins. Medicines can even affect parts of the nervous system that control a body process. Nearly everyone has taken an antibiotic.
This type of medicine fights bacterial infections. Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic for things like strep throat or an ear infection. Antibiotics work either by killing bacteria or halting their multiplication so that the body's immune system can fight off the infection.
Sometimes a part of the body can't make enough of a chemical. That can also make you sick. Someone with insulin-dependent diabetes, for instance, has a pancreas that can't produce enough insulin a hormone that regulates glucose in the body.
Some people have a low production of thyroid hormone, which helps control how the body uses energy. In each case, doctors can prescribe medicines to replace the missing hormone. Some medicines treat symptoms but can't cure the illness that causes the symptoms. A symptom is anything you feel while you're sick, such as a cough or nausea. So taking a lozenge may soothe a sore throat, but it won't kill that nasty strep bacteria. Some medicines relieve pain. If you pull a muscle, your doctor might tell you to take ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
These pain relievers , or analgesics, don't get rid of the source of the pain — your muscle will still be pulled. What they do is block the pathways that transmit pain signals from the injured or irritated body part to the brain in other words, they affect the way the brain reads the pain signal so that you don't hurt as much while your body recovers.
As people get older, they sometimes develop chronic or long-term conditions. Medicines can help control things like high blood pressure hypertension or high cholesterol. These drugs don't cure the underlying problem, but they can help prevent some of its body-damaging effects over time. Among the most important medicines are immunizations or vaccines. These keep people from getting sick in the first place by immunizing, or protecting, the body against some infectious diseases.
This will help alert the pharmacist if a new drug might cause a problem with something else you are taking. Check the label to ensure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients.
Talk with your doctor or pharmacist if you have questions about the written information that comes with your prescription. Unwanted or unexpected symptoms or feelings that occur when you take medicine are called side effects. Side effects can be relatively minor, such as a headache or a dry mouth. They can also be life-threatening, such as severe bleeding or irreversible damage to the liver or kidneys.
Medications' side effects also can affect your driving. If you experience side effects, write them down so you can report them to your doctor accurately. Call your doctor right away if you have any problems with your medicines or if you are worried that the medicine might be doing more harm than good. He or she may be able to change your medication to another that will work just as well.
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