My own doctor: what is the danger of uncontrolled medication intake
In fact, every third Russian, according to VTsIOM, self-medicates. This approach can play a cruel joke with those who, for some reason, do not rush to the doctor or adopt someone's ignorant advice. What consequences do people expect when using drugs without control, in which cases a stroke can be triggered and why we may lose antibiotics — in the Izvestia article.
What pills can trigger a stroke?
Cases of uncontrolled medication intake are common among the population, complains Denis Prokofiev, a general practitioner, cardiologist, and holder of the status of "Moscow Doctor." People are extremely irresponsible about their health, trusting information from the Internet and the advice of neighbors and colleagues, he clarifies.
Because of this, the expert considers the most ideal treatment system to be an approach where the drug is dispensed to a person on a prescription prescribed by a doctor.
— Let's take the most common diseases and analyze the risks that self-medication carries. First of all, let's talk about increasing blood pressure. Often, a person who has encountered this for the first time goes to a pharmacy and receives the drug, at best, on the advice of a pharmacist and pharmacist who sees the patient for the first time and is not familiar with his medical history. And sometimes the recommendations come from people who are not related to the field of medicine at all," says the doctor.
He draws attention to the fact that all medicines have different purposes. Groups of drugs differ not only in the strength of their effects. For example, pills that are prescribed in a course and taken systematically are not suitable for a single dose. At the same time, the correct prescription of medicines is preceded by a lot of work by a doctor who analyzes the expediency of using certain drugs by a particular patient. This helps to avoid problems that cannot be foreseen without special knowledge.
According to Denis Prokofiev, the drug can trigger an ischemic stroke only because the dosage is too high for a particular person. The pressure quickly decreases to critical levels, which leads to a stroke. Such situations are common, the expert emphasizes.
— The second story is related to the fact that a person buys a low-dosage drug at his own discretion and begins to take it on an ongoing basis. This dosage has no effect on his blood pressure levels. And the patient himself becomes dependent on the dosage form, because he takes it on an ongoing basis. That is, he gets used to a useless drug that he absolutely does not need," the general practitioner points out the problem.
How not to treat the stomach and nerves
The doctor also pays attention to the uncontrolled intake of medications intended for the treatment of the gastrointestinal tract. Often, patients experiencing heartburn, bitterness in the mouth or pain in the epigastric region begin to take medications that only relieve symptoms without eliminating the problem.
— As a result, a person with ordinary superficial gastritis runs the risk of developing peptic ulcer of the stomach or gastrointestinal tract. And only the doctor knows that the drugs of another group are basic for him — those aimed at reducing the secretion of hydrochloric acid. They really have a therapeutic effect," explains Denis Prokofiev.
According to the expert, the situation with antidepressants is best in Russia: these serious drugs, as a rule, have a strict prescription — the so-called registered prescription form. This group of medicines should definitely not be used uncontrollably, otherwise there is a risk that suspicious people will believe that they are suffering from depression, even if their mood has simply deteriorated, the doctor warns.
In turn, clinical psychologist Sergey Volkov notes that people sometimes tend to attribute diagnoses to themselves. This happens, in particular, because a person often associates himself with the outside world, trying to find common features with his surroundings. This effect is clearly visible in the queue for the doctor: if someone starts sharing their symptoms, then eventually the whole queue finds something similar at home.
— Now, in all protocols between diagnosis and therapy, there is even a big step — informing, — says the specialist. — His goal is to dispel a person's myths about his imaginary diagnoses and explain what is really happening to him, so that, for example, he understands that he is not depressed, but he is just sad.
Ban on antibiotics
Denis Prokofiev calls the uncontrolled use of antibiotics a global problem, specifying that this approach leads to high resistance (resistance) to bacteria.
— If this continues, we will actually leave patients without antibiotics who really need them. Bacteria are smart creatures, they get used to these drugs. The uncontrolled release of such drugs will make all pharmaceutical groups that currently exist absolutely useless, the doctor warns.
At the same time, he recalls that it takes about 20 years on average to create a new antibiotic, which means that for some time people risk being left without help simply because there will not be a single new drug available that has not developed resistance.
Why do men grow breasts?
Any drug should be taken under the control of certain laboratory parameters, emphasizes Denis Prokofiev. Choosing a medicine at random is a risk. A striking example of this is taking certain forms of diuretics, that is, diuretics. According to a general practitioner, sometimes people choose such medications on their own in order to relieve swelling, relieve pressure, or relieve shortness of breath. And it happens that the decision to take pills in which a person does not understand anything is influenced by information blogs. In particular, some amateur athletes take diuretics to "dry out." However, instead of the desired result — prominent muscles — they can get an effect that they definitely do not expect.
— Uncontrolled use of some of these drugs can lead to the development of gynecomastia — in simple words, to the growth of the mammary glands in men, — warns the doctor. — This paradoxical situation is an illustrative example of rash actions.
What happens if thrombosis and asthma are not treated?
Denis Prokofiev also points to the free handling of a group of drugs that treat problems related to veins.
— A person goes to a pharmacy and buys ointments that help with some superficial problems, and the cause of his edema and the appearance of a venous pattern may be deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremities. In fact, at the same time, he is missing valuable time allocated for life—saving therapy," the expert says.
It is impossible to figure out such subtleties on your own without knowledge of the biological and medical foundations of diseases, the causes of their origin and the mechanisms of development, he is convinced.
— The example of bronchial asthma is illustrative, — Denis Prokofiev continues. — Many patients have been relieving suffocation symptoms for years by taking medications that have no effect on the course of the disease. Meanwhile, the disease develops and as a result leads to unpleasant consequences.
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