Using medications without a doctor’s knowledge can increase the risk of developing liver failure, hepatitis, or even cirrhosis, especially in those who already have liver problems.
On the other hand, taking medications without supervision can also harm the functioning of the kidneys and even the heart, this can arise with the taking of pills, the application of injections, ointments or syrups. Although anyone can get sick, the risks of developing serious health problems are even higher in the following situations:
- Babies and children: Because in most cases the remedies vary with age and weight, and can damage the growth and development of the baby when the wrong formula or an exaggerated amount is given.
- Elderly: Because they take several medications to control various diseases and the risk of interaction is greater.
- People with chronic diseases such as diabetes: Because they can decrease the effect of medication to control the disease.
Table of Contents
Taking medications without medical supervision damages the liver.
In some cases, when using the drugs without medical supervision an allergic reaction can arise, which can cause a severe allergy, which can lead to symptoms such as difficulty breathing or swelling of the skin, as is common with penicillin, for example.
In addition, the individual can take the wrong drug or the wrong amount of medicine by not knowing the correct diagnosis of the disease, the wrong treatment of the disease contributes to aggravate the problem and make it difficult to cure. In severe cases, the medication can cause the death of the patient as the body is not compatible with the ingested medication.
Therefore, the use of medications should only be done under medical supervision, even if you have trivial symptoms such as headache, diarrhea or itchy skin, or when you are considering taking a weight loss medication, even if it is natural. Always the most advisable, after consultation, is to lean towards home remedies.
Dangers of self-medication in pregnancy.
Self-medication in pregnancy can harm the baby causing mental retardation, physical deformities, and even miscarriage, so most medications, and even natural products like tea, cannot be taken during pregnancy without the advice of a doctor. For this reason, if the pregnant woman is ill, you should immediately consult her obstetrician to find out what medicine she can safely take.
The main risks of taking over-the-counter medications.
The main danger of taking medications without medical supervision, such as paracetamol and aspirin, is to hide the symptoms of diseases that can be serious or even interact with other medications and cause allergies. Therefore, a simple fever that apparently can be treated with paracetamol, can hide a tonsillitis that needs to be treated in another way.
Some diseases that can be treated with natural remedies are colds, coughs, ringworm, heartburn, pain or constipation for example, because natural remedies can help treat other symptoms together, and side effects are avoided. However, it is advisable that a specialist can evaluate the picture before even opting to treat yourself with home remedies.
Main risks of taking medications without medical supervision.
Prescription drugs when used without medical guidance can be very dangerous to health as they are often complex drugs, which can cause complications such as:
- Drug poisoning, as some medications cannot be taken at the same time and is more common in the elderly because they take several medications to control different ailments.
- The malfunction of organs such as the liver or kidneys due to an exaggerated dose taken.
- The worsening of the disease, when taking the wrong medicine or in an insufficient quantity, can even make it difficult to cure.
- Allergic reaction, which can cause symptoms such as difficulty breathing, moles or swelling of the skin, the most common antibiotic being penicillin, for example, because the person may be allergic to the components of this medicine.
What to do before taking medicine?
In all cases before using a drug, you should:
- Consult a doctor so that he can tell you what remedy should be taken, the amount and the time it should be done.
- Read the prescription of the drug to learn the most common side effects that can arise.
- Not following the instructions of friends or family who took medications for symptoms similar to what we have, because the cause of the disease may not be the same.
- Do not take other drugs at the same time as the prescribed treatment, without consulting a specialist, as in some cases, it reduces the effect of the medicine or leads to interaction between them.
- However, even if the drug is available over the counter, the pharmacist should be asked for guidance to make the best choice and keep the doctor informed, in the routine visit, about the habit of taking certain drugs and their frequency.
- And an extra tip is to always try to speak with a specialist about natural solutions or home remedies within a treatment, whenever this is possible, since medications tend to bring side effects in almost all their presentations.