Role of Medicine
Journal #1 Recall the last 3 medications you have taken What purpose were they taken for? Did they work?
Medicine slogans Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is All day long all day strong Nausea, heartburn, indigestion upset stomach relief Life doesn’t stop for allergies works when you need it most Nightime sniffling sneezing cough achey fever best sleep ever got cold medicine Because your periods more than a pain Painrelievers hospitals use most The headache medicine
Role of Medicine Medicines are classified based on how they work in your body. Medicines: drugs that are used to treat or prevent diseases or other conditions Drugs: substances other than food that change the structure or function of the body or mind
Medicines treat or prevent illness 4 classifications Prevent Disease Fight Pathogens Relieving Pain Managing Chronic Conditions
Disease Prevention Vaccines: a preparation that prevents a person from contracting a specific disease. Vaccines contain weakened or dead pathogens that cause the disease. When injected into the body the vaccine produces antibodies that fight those pathogens. Your body also produces memory cells that recall how to make these antibodies.
Fight Pathogens Antibiotics: class of drug that destroy disease- causing microorganisms, called bacteria. When antibiotics were first introduced they were considered a miracle drug because they saved so many lives.
Relieving Pain Most commonly used medicines are analgesics or pain relievers. Analgesics range from relatively mild medicines such as aspirin, to strong narcotics, such as opium-based morphine and codeine. Addiction to pain relieving medicines can be addictive. Patients who use these drugs can become physically or psychologically dependent on them.
Managing Chronic Conditions These medicines maintain or restore health, offer people with chronic disease a higher level of wellness Allergy Medicine Body Regulating Medicine: Insulin, cardio Antidepressants Cancer Treatment Medicines
Taking Medications Oral: taken by mouth Topical: applied to the skin Inhaled: delivered in mist or powder Injected: delivered through shot goes straight to the blood stream
Reactions to Medications Side effects, reactions to medicine other than the one intended. INTERACTIONS Additive interaction: medicines work together in a positive way. Synergistic effect: the interaction of two or more medicines that results in a greater effect than when each medicine is taken alone. Antagonist Interaction: effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced when taken with another medicine.
Tolerance and Withdrawl When a person takes a medication for a long period of time, the body can become used to the medication. Problems may include: Tolerance: body becomes used to the effects of a medicine. The body requires increasingly larger doses to produce desired effect. Withdrawal: person stops using a medicine on which he or she has become physiologically dependent. Symptoms: severe headaches, vomiting, chills and cramps.
Medicine Misused Medicine Misused: using a medicine in ways other than the intended use. Failing to follow instructions Giving a prescribed medicine to a person for whom it was not prescribed, or taking another persons med. Taking too much or too little Taking a medicine longer or shorter than prescribed Discontinuing use of a medicine without informing your health care provider Mixing medicines with knowledge of health care provider.
Medicine Abuse Medicine Abuse: intentionally taking medications for nonmedical reasons. Some teens feel that since a medicine is a prescription or over the counter that it is safer than illegal drugs. Abusing any medicine is DANGEROUS/ILLEGAL.
Teens should avoid using drugs to… Lose weight or stay awake while studying To fit in with peers Pill parties: teens mix whatever OTC and prescription medicines are available. DANGEROUS!!!! Avoid taking medicine that was prescribed to someone else. This is illegal and unsafe
Prescription Drug Abuse Clip http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=355 1567n&tag=related;photovideo