Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 7 Articles
Now days there has been increasing trend for self-medication among the Indian population. Craving for medicine and self-medication has been part of mankind from one generation to another. People generally hold the view that medicines should be used in the event of any sickness or discomfort during the life time. The main objective of present study assessment of self medication practices among medical and non medical profession. The study was conducted on a sample of randomly selected pharmacy and degree students of Kakatiya University; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Andhra Pradesh; the age of the students ranged from 17 years to 60 years both sex were questioning. A semi structured questionnaire was prepared; data was collected over 12 months period using self administered questionnaire. The study period was conducted from august 2012 to august 2013. Data collected, interview the medicos and non medicos who agreed to participate in the study during interview enquiring about the personal data. A total of 1002 out of 1050 questionnaires were completed filled returned to the researcher, giving a response data of 95.4%. Characteristically average age for the respondents was 26 years old and most responders were females (54.5%) of non medical professionals. The majorities reported to have health insurance living with in the area where a clinic or pharmacy is close and were mostly free from chronic disease. Approximately 73.05% of the respondents reported that they do practice self medication. Self medication was practiced by 17.6% of medical, 79.5% of non medical and others were found to be of 2.79% of 45.6% male and 54.5% female suggesting that the practice of self medication, in general was independent of gender or type of profession. The most common class of medication used in self medication was anti pyretic and analgesics particularly paracetamol which was reported by 59.6% of the respondents. Reasons for self medication noted are wide advertisements of medicines in televisions, news papers, magazines results in selection of inappropriate drugs for disease condition leading to the misjudgement of the disease resulted in drug complications and mortality rate....
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a commonly reported cause of death and associated with smoking. However, COPD mortality is high in poor countries with low smoking rates. Spirometric restriction predicts mortality better than airflow obstruction, suggesting that the prevalence of restriction could explain mortality rates attributed to COPD. A prospective study (January 2014 to March 2014) analysis of all COPD cases who attended St. Joseph Hospital, Nellore, for a period of 3 months was done. A total of 40 COPD cases are included in this study. Data regarding age, sex, occupation, personal history and treatment given to the patient were collected from the hospital records and analyzed. All types of COPD cases above the age of 20 years were included in this study. The study was carried out at the multi specialty hospital in Nellore. This study was a prospective from January 2014 to March 2014. It was found that the male patients outnumbered the COPD admission over the female patients. According to age groups, the majority of the COPD cases were found in the age groups of 60-70 years (22.5%). In this study smoker (60%) was the most common when compared to non-smokers (40%). Classifying the COPD cases by occupation of the patient’s, farmers were found most common 15 (37.5%). This is due to smoking habits by the farmers. Pharmacotherapy given to the COPD patients were various bronchodilators, antibiotics, NSAIDS, corticosteroids etc. Smoking remains the single most important cause of obstruction but a high prevalence of restriction associated with poverty could explain the high ‘COPD’ mortality in poor countries....
The increasing number of people diagnosed with diseases like diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia suggests that it is necessary to study and understand the profile of oral antidiabetics and insulin use. Reviewing prescribing patterns assists in analyzing early signals of irrational drug use and promotes interventions for optimal usage of drugs. To analyze the current prescription patterns of drugs used in the treatment of type 2 DM patients. A cross-sectional observational descriptive study was done in 201consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus enrolled in diabetic clinic of a tertiary care center and data was collected from the diabetic clinic records. In the study majority of the patients (148, 74%) had HbA1C ≥ 7 and only 53 patients (33%) had HbA1C <7. In the prescriptions analyzed, 69(34%) were on monotherapy of which 35 were on metformin, 15 on sulfonyl ureas and one on DPP4I respectively. The most common oral combination-therapies were metformin and sulphonyl ureas (65). It was observed that 17 (8.4%) patients were only on insulin and 44(21%) patients were on combination of insulin and oral hypoglycemics. In patients with comorbidities like hypertension (113, 55%), 59 (52%) were on monotherapy, most commonly prescribed drug was ARB’s (28, 47%) and 29(26%) on dual therapy and ARB’s and diuretic combination (14, 48%) was most commonly prescribed. In patients with dyslipidemia (132, 65%), 55 (42%) were on monotherapy and 10(8%) on dual therapy, atorvastatin (39, 71%) was the most commonly prescribed drug among the statins. Antiplatelets were prescribed for 21(10%) patients as primary prevention for cardiovascular disease. The study results revealed inspite of well established guidelines for the management of diabetes, they are not being followed. It was observed that the reasons for the deviation from these guidelines may be due to local clinical practice being followed. Because of the additive morbidity and mortality with hypertension, the clinician must be aware of current management guidelines and the importance of aggressive therapy and monitoring of patient compliance is essential. Initiation of antiplatelet agents as primary prevention for cardiovascular disease should be implemented. Significant reductions in cardiovascular and diabetes-related outcomes have been seen with aggressive interventions....
Consumption of multiple serotonergic agents may increase the levels of serotonin which results in “serotonin storm”. This syndrome is popularly called as “serotonin syndrome” and is caused by the increased serotonin in the central nervous system (CNS). Serotonin syndrome was first seen in humans at early 1960’s. This syndrome is associated with high levels of serotonin that results from pharmacological activity, accidental interactions and excess dose of the drugs. Clinical manifestations of this syndrome are cognitive behavioural dysfunction, autonomic nervous system dysfunction and neuromuscular dysfunction. A detailed diagnostic criterion for this syndrome was first introduced by sternbach in 1991 and hunter 5HT toxicity scale was proposed by the hunter area toxicology service (HATS) in 2003. Usually drug induced serotonin syndrome is severe and can be resolved on its own as soon as the withdrawal of the drug. But sometimes it may be fatal too. According to food and drugs administration (FDA), cyproheptadine can be used to treat this syndrome. The serotonin syndrome can be prevented by providing awareness to all the health care professionals, modifying the prescribing patterns and also the extensive usage of pharmacogenomics principles....
Medication of person without medical supervision to treat an illness or a disease condition is considered as self\r\nmedication. Main objective of present study was the practice of self medication and the common ailments and disease\r\nconditions, common drugs used for self medication, their sources and the reasons for opting for it. Cross sectional qualitative\r\nstudy method was performed on 82 sample population. Any person below 18 years and above 18 years who refused to consent\r\nfor sharing of information is excluded from the study. In present study 64.63% were male and 35.37% were female respondents.\r\nThe study population practicing self medication was about 64.63%. Pain (90.56%), fever (84.90%), cough (81.13%) and\r\nheadache (71.69%) were common illnesses for which self medication was practiced. Commonly used drugs for self medication\r\nwere aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen, diclofenac, cetrizine, ranitidine, loperamide and cough syrup. In 56.60% cases, chemists\r\nwere the source of information for self medication. 60% of people perceived improvement in health after self medication. Major\r\nreasons for self medication among respondents were saving time and money. Self medication is found to be a common practice\r\nand the main reason is saving money and time....
Pharmacists are often the first point-of-contact for patients with health inquiries. Thus pharmacists have a significant role in assessing medication management in patients and in referring patients to physicians. Safety monitoring of medicines by pharmacovigilance is an integral part of clinical practice. Pharmacovigilance is the science of collecting, monitoring, researching, assessing and evaluating information from healthcare providers and patients on the adverse effects of medications, biological products, herbalism and traditional medicines. Recently DCGI banned drugs rosiglitazone, nimesulide, cisapride, phenylpropanolamine, sibutramine, gatifloxacin and tegasorid for certain indications and specific group of patients. After a survey, it was observed that these drugs are still available in Indian market. This article reviews the reasons about the availability of banned drugs and the role of pharmacist to change current situation in order to improve awareness of healthcare in India....
Topical ophthalmic antibiotics are mostly prescribed to treat presumed cases of infective conjunctivitis due to pathogenic ambiguity and the belief that bacterial infections require prescription medications. The main disadvantage of this type of prescribing approach is the possible incongruous therapy of viral conjunctivitis with antibiotics, which raises concerns about antibiotic resistance, cost-effectiveness and potential increase of complications as a result of ocular or systemic antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the ophthalmologists and optometrists of Karachi treat a patient when he/she comes with complaints of conjunctivitis. This research is based on a survey. The survey was conducted at five tertiary care hospitals and a number of private clinics located in different regions of Karachi. One hundred fifty four participants (61.6%) told that allergic conjunctivitis was the most common type of conjunctivitis. One hundred ninety four (77.6%) participants were of the opinion that initially no antibiotic should be prescribed to treat conjunctivitis. Thirty eight participants (15.2%) commonly prescribed antibiotics in the form of eye drops, one hundred twenty two participants (48.8%) commonly prescribed antibiotics in the form of eye drops with antihistamines. The ophthalmologists and optometrists of Karachi follow international guidelines to treat conjunctivitis....
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