Self-medication
As self-medication the self-treatment with drugs called. Self-medication is possible with prescription-free, so-called OTC preparations and is particularly common for everyday complaints such as headaches , diarrhea , colds or nausea . Self-medication can also be done with prescription drugs, provided that these are available to the patient, e.g. B. because they were prescribed for a previous illness or were acquired illegally.
This approach has a significant impact on the use of funds in the healthcare sector. Advice from pharmacists on questions of self-medication is also very important . These consultations often show that a doctor's advice is necessary before self-medication because health problems are misinterpreted. On the medical side, self-medication is sometimes viewed critically.
Difference to self-treatment
In contrast, self- treatment also includes manual therapies and other healing methods that the sufferer can safely use on himself. These include u. a. various methods of gymnastics and rehabilitation exercises demonstrated by therapists , the treatment of muscle pain through acupressure or through gentle electrical procedures such as TENS .
The traditional European medicine knows many long-established methods, including the applications of the Kneipp medicine and medicinal herbs .
Drug dispensing according to prescription and in self-medication
| year | Prescriptions (million packs) |
Self-medication (million packs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 1200 | 540 |
| 1995 | 1060 | 590 |
| 2000 | 960 | 600 |
| 2001 | 990 | 610 |
| 2002 | 1005 | 640 |
| 2003 | 1027 | 638 |
| 2004 | 845 | 651 |
| 2005 | 862 | 692 |
| 2006 | 834 | 676 |
| according to: Medical Tribune , 2007 | ||
Self-medication in animals
Animals can eat z. B. Herbs fix physical problems. Elephants also eat earth . Self-medication in animals is scientifically known as zoopharmacognosia . Health are the so-called "in the ocean also conducive cleaning stations in order, for example, by" that are specifically sought out by many fish cleaner fish to be cleaned of parasites and dead skin.
Infectious diseases
Self-medication with antibiotics is commonplace in some countries, such as Greece . In countries like Nigeria , the careless use of antibiotics increases the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections .
In a questionnaire to estimate the self-medication rate in the population of Khartoum , Sudan , 48.1% reported using antibiotics in the past 30 days. 43.4% of respondents were taking antimalarials, and 17.5% were using both. Overall, the reported self-medication prevalence with either or both anti-infectious agents was 73.9% over the past month.
In a survey of students in South China , 47.8% of those questioned also reported self-therapy with antibiotics.
Doctors and medical students
57% of medical students in West Bengal , India reported in a survey to self-therapy. The drugs most commonly used were antibiotics (31%), pain relievers (23%), antipyretic drugs (18%), gastric ulcer drugs (9%), cough suppressants (8%), multivitamins (6%), and anti-worm drugs ( 4%).
Another study found that 53% doctors in Karnataka , India treat themselves with antibiotics.
children
A study of Luo children in western Kenya showed that 19% treated themselves. In addition to medicines, they also used herbs. The girls trusted herbal medicine more, while the boys relied on conventional medicine. The phenomenon is likely due to the influence of their relative profitability.
literature
- Annette Bopp , Vera Herbst: Handbook over-the-counter drugs . Stiftung Warentest , 2011, ISBN 978-3-86851-123-9 Press release from Stiftung Warentest test.de, September 19, 2011
- Uwe May: Self-medication in Germany ; Scientific Publishing Company 2002; ISBN 978-3-8047-1978-1
- David Werner: Where There Is No Doctor . Hesperian Health Guides. Aimed at people in developing countries or in situations with a shortage of doctors.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ R. Beitz, M. Dören, H. Knopf, H.-U. Melchert: Self-medication with over-the-counter (OTC) preparations in Germany. In: Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz, 2004, Vol. 47, No. 11 doi : 10.1007 / s00103-004-0923-3
- ↑ M. Schär: Self-medication. In: Social and Preventive Medicine / Social and Preventive Medicine .., 1986, Vol 31, No. 3, doi : 10.1007 / BF02083399
- ↑ Falling prices and fewer prescribed packs . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 143 kB) In: Medical Tribune , 42nd year, June 2007
- ↑ Self-medication in the woods and fields
- ↑ Eystathios Skliros, Panagiotis Merkouris, Athanasia Papazafiropoulou, Aristofanis Gikas, George Matzouranis, Christos Papafragos, Ioannis Tsakanikas, Irene Zarbala, Alexios Vasibosis, Petroula Stamataki, Alexios Sotiropoulos: Self-medication in rural population with multiotics Greece: a cross-medication with multiotics study . In: BMC Family Practice . 11, No. 58, August 8, 2010. doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2296-11-58 . Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ↑ Amy R. Sapkota, Morenike E. Coker, Rachel E. Rosenberg Goldstein, Nancy L. Atkinson, Shauna J. Sweet, Priscilla O. Sopeju, Modupe T. Ojo, Elizabeth Otivhia, Olayemi O. Ayepola, Olufunmiso O. Olajuyigbe, Laura Shireman, Paul S. Pottinger, Kayode K. Ojo: Self-medication with antibiotics for the treatment of menstrual symptoms in southwest Nigeria: a cross-sectional study . In: BMC Public Health . 10, No. 610, October 15, 2010. doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2458-10-610 . Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ↑ Awad Abdelmoneim, Idris Eltayeb, Lloyd Matowe, Lukman Thalib: Self-medication with antibiotics and antimalarials in the community of Khartoum State, Sudan. In: Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences . 8th edition. No. 2 , August 12, 2005, p. 326-331 , PMID 16124943 .
- Jump up ↑ Pan Hui, Binglin Cui, Dangui Zhang, Jeremy Farrar, Frieda Law, William Ba-Thein: Prior Knowledge, Older Age, and Higher Allowance Are Risk Factors for Self-Medication with Antibiotics among University Students in Southern China . In: Richard Fielding (Ed.): PLoS ONE . 7th edition. No. 7 , July 20, 2012, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0041314 ( plosone.org [accessed April 23, 2015]).
- ↑ I. Banerjee, T. Bhadury: Self-medication practice among undergraduate medical students in a tertiary care medical college, West Bengal . In: Journal of Postgraduate Medicine . 58, No. 2, April-June 2012, ISSN 0972-2823 , pp. 127-131. doi : 10.4103 / 0022-3859.97175 . PMID 22718057 . Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ^ GK Nalini: Self-Medication among Allopathic medical Doctors in Karnataka, India . In: British Journal of Medical Practitioners . 3, No. 2, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
- ↑ PW Geissler, K. Nokes, RJ Prince, R. Achieng Odhiambo, J. Aagaard-Hansen, JH Ouma: Children and medicines: self-treatment of common illnesses among Luo school children in western Kenya . In: Social Science & Medicine . 50, No. 12, June 2000, pp. 1771-1783. doi : 10.1016 / S0277-9536 (99) 00428-1 . PMID 10798331 .
