Pros And Cons Of Self-Medication

That headache is killing you and there is no point in going to the doctor just because you're experiencing one of the most common ailments out there.

What do you do? You'd probably take a paracetamol or another over-the-counter pain relief pill. You may make this choice because your doctor prescribed it to you for fever and you know it's also a painkiller, or simply because taking OTC painkillers is a very common and socially accepted practice, and you need the pain to go away.

Most of the time, you'd be absolutely right to make this choice. Your over-the-counter drug will do what you want it to, and your headache won't be caused by a more serious underlying condition.

Let's take a look at another scenario, though. Your child has diarrhea. He ate quite a lot yesterday, and it might just be the effect of a heavy dinner, so you decide to give him an anti-diarrheal purchased from your local pharmacy without a prescription — pediatrician not included. Of course, you didn’t just medicate your child without any professional help, which would be irresponsible; you actually asked "Dr Google" what to do.

Or another one. Now, instead of having a one-off headache, you're suffering from them continuously. Instead of seeking medical attention, you continue to pop those painkillers just to get through your daily responsibilities. Sure, you think it's odd, not to mention distressing, that you keep having these headaches (are they migraines?), but you don't have time to check in with your doctor.

The beginnings of self-medication

 Who hasn’t self-medicated before? The history of this practice starts in ancient cultures, where even though there were people who specialized in treating sickness, health was more a matter of self-care. Times have changed though, and with them, diseases have evolved and new treatments and cures have been developed.

Self-medication is a common practice in our society and it has become easier to self-medicate thanks to internet-fueled easy access to information.

The advantages of self-medication

But how bad can this practice be? Should it be completely banned?

Actually, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not consider self-medication as a bad practice as long as it is “responsible”.

These medicines should comply with safety and effectiveness standards that allow the general public to use them without professional vigilance, but following the directions of a doctor, a pharmacist or the leaflet provided by the pharmaceutical company.

See Also: Do You Take Too Many Medications With You When You Travel?

What are the advantages of a responsible self-medication? Well, first of all, you don’t have to visit a doctor every time you feel sick, reducing the costs of health care costs for you, if you tend to use private health care, and for the government, when talking about public health programs.

Responsible self-medication also reduces the work burden of public health institutions, especially in places where these are limited, and allows them to provide a better attention to the users. It could prevent you from having to take sick days, too.

Self-Medication: Not So Good Scenario

It would be great if all of the above could be applied in every part of the world. Sadly, it is not as easy as it sounds.  Proper legislation regarding over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription only drugs is lacking in many countries. In Latin America, for example, this is a real problem, as the use of prescription-only medicines for self-medication is very common.

Self-medication: Safety above all

There is no such thing as a 100% safe medicine. Even when it has been approved as an OTC drug, it can still be risky to use without medical advice.

Self-medication may also promote the indiscriminate use of certain drugs, such as analgesics and anti-histaminics, which could potentially cause renal and liver dysfunction and other long-term complications.

Currently, you can even buy medicines through the internet. How can you be sure about the safety and quality of a product purchased like this? Of course, mail order pharmacies could be a very useful resource for patients, especially those who are physically disabled or don’t have easy access to health services. However, there should also be regulations over this type of market that can secure the well-being of the consumer.

Antibiotics and bacterial resistance

Even though antibiotics are considered as prescription only drugs in most countries, their unsupervised use is very common as a result of unfinished doses and the later use of these leftovers to treat what people think could be a bacterial infection.

The effect of this situation is a serious public health issue.

See Also: The Dangers Of Prescription Drugs

This does not only mean that more potent treatments need to be developed in order to kill these super bacteria, but also that infections are harder to treat and cure, and the rampant over-use of antibiotics can promote the development of chronic and more dangerous illnesses that then won't have a cure, because the antibiotics no longer work. In (not so very unlikely) dystopian scenarios, antibiotic resistance could mean people die from previously easily curable conditions, like an infected cut of the finger or a urinary tract infection.

Self-medication has existed for ages, and there are even institutions nowadays that promote it as a human right; however, there are still many things to think about when it comes to it, specially regarding the approval of OTCs, the availability of health services and the potential individual and public health problems that could arise as a consequence of self-medication.