80% of Mexicans resort to irresponsible self-medication

MEXICO CITY.- 80% of Mexicans resort to irresponsible self-medicationwhich represents the risk of “mask” and aggravate diseases y generate resistance antimicrobial, so it is key to avoid it, warned Karla Báez, director of Access of the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research Industries (AMIIF).

The surgeon explained that irresponsible or incorrect self-medication can cause health problems.

“Making a prescription for medication without professional supervision can cause the opposite effect: damage health”.

There is irresponsible and responsible self-medication

Karla Báez indicated that the self-medication It is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a component of self-care of health and can be divided into two main categories: the responsible and the irresponsible.

The first, he said, involves taking over-the-counter medications to control symptoms considered mild or controllablesuch as the flu or muscle pain.

One of its characteristics is that lasts a short time and the person can improve almost from the first intake.

What is irresponsible self-medication?

The irresponsible self-medication is that based on prescription drugs and that a health professional prescribes them, that they are not available over the counter, which can have negative impacts on health.

“Everything will depend on the type of medication, the case of antibioticsmany times the medication is not needed, but something is put into the body that was not required,” he added.

“The worst thing is that eThe body begins to remember and the bacteria begin to understand that it does nothing to them, then the body will no longer respond to that medicine.”

Likewise, self-medicating can mask and aggravate a diseaseas well as avoiding accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatments.

Patients may develop allergies

On the other hand, the Patients may develop allergies and symptoms such as irritation, bleeding, hypersensitivity, nausea, dizziness and constipation, or more serious ones, such as anaphylactic shock that can even cause death.

Given this situation, the specialist called on be careful with medications always buy them from controlled and serious establishments and go to health professionals for prescription.

“No medicine is harmless, but some have more side effects than others.”

“So taking drugs indiscriminately may cause more harm than good“, he emphasized.

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