Self medication is a behaviour in which an individual uses medicines without medical supervision to treat his own ailment. Self medication is practiced in 60 to 80% of the cases of distress, disturbed health or sickness. Self medication is very common in Pakistan; most of the people self-medicate themselves to avoid the heavy expenses of doctor’s fees.
It has been found out that there are many disadvantages of self-medications such as misdiagnosis and excessive drug dosage. Paracetamol is very commonly prescribed by most of the doctors but this drug in large doses can cause liver failure. Similarly valsartan is an anti-hypertensive drug. It is highly effective when used in recommended quantity, but the over usage of this drug may leads to heart failure. Moreover the drugs may cause side effects.
We should stop self-medication in order to avoid severe failures and various health hazards which endanger our own lives.
SYED MUHAMMAD AHSAN ALI,
Karachi, May 3.
