A SPECIAL WORD ABOUT MEDICINE TAKING
THE HISTORY of modern
medicines is one of major successes, but it also includes disasters. Tremendous
benefits have followed the discovery of insulin for diabetes, agents for
controlling high blood pressure, antibiotics and other anti-bacterial that kill
or impede the growth of bacteria, cortisone and other steroid compounds that
combat inflammation, tranquilizers and antidepressants for nervous and mentaldisorders, and drugs that slow the wild growth of some cancer cells. But there
have been tragedies traceable to indiscriminate use and abuse of such powerful
agents and of others. For one thing, no medication yet developed is
fool proof-universally useful for even the condition for which it was developed,
free of undesirable effects.
Virtually every drug, just as virtually every food, may
produce unpleasant effects for at least a few individuals, and so it must be
used with care. We hope in this chapter to provide a useful guide to medicine
taking, one that will be helpful to you both in more effective treatment of any
health problems that arise and also in preventing many problems.
PRESCRIBING FOR
YOURSELF
A recent survey of a small but typical group of households carried out
by a major university research institute found that the number of medications
on hand varied from 3 to 88, with a mean of 30. Of the 2,539 medications
observed, only 445 were prescription drugs. Each month in the United States,
750 out of every 1,000 adults 16 years of age and over experience a cold,
headache, or other illness or injury for which only 250 will consult a physician.
Thus, people control their own care in terms of whether and
when to seek medical aid and when to prescribe for themselves. Virtually
everyone on occasion does his own prescribing-and that can be a practical
matter. Certainly every minor ache or pain does not require that a doctor be
called. Nobody wishes to become a habitual patient. The medicines-variously
known as "patent," "proprietary," and
"over-the-counter" or "OTC"-which you can purchase in
drugstores without a doctor's prescription are generally milder and have fairly
broad safety margins.
