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Students in colleges, when fall sick, rarely bother to consult a doctor. They procrastinate fixing an appointment with a licensed doctor. They keep enduring the pain anticipating to heal soon. If not, they resort to self-medication. The use of medications without proper medical consultation concerning indication, dosage, and duration of treatment is referred to as self-medication. In most sickness chapters; self-medication is the first option which makes it a common practice among students.

Students are alarmingly unaware of the hazards of self-medication and its grave implications. It can wreak havoc in the body. Self-medication even to counter minor ailments can incur medical complications. A large number of potential drugs such as painkillers, anti-allergies, sedatives, antibiotics, antacids, and vitamins are sold without consultation with a licensed doctor. Self-medication with over the counter medicines can further exacerbate the ailment.

Intake of drugs prescribed by a pharmacist who doesn’t hold a degree in medicine is also a form of self-medication. There are cases where the recommendation of drugs by a doctor for one member is applied on to another in the family without consulting the doctor, simply because the symptoms are analogous. The assumption that the infection is similar can prove fatal.

If the intake of drugs is not monitored by a medical expert’s supervision, then the dosages can rewire the body to malfunction. Self-medication does not tell the patient about the dosage of the drug, the strength of it, its composition, how the drug needs to be taken, and its side-effects or reactions if any. These drugs can harmfully react with other drugs which can prove deadly in adverse cases.

The government should make extra efforts to revamp the entire system of dissemination of drugs, at least around the universities. To ensure the safety of students, authorities should be really vigilant while drug dispensation. Students themselves should be aware of the repercussions of self-medication and refrain from indulging in the hazardous practice.

 

Feature Image Credits: PharmEasy

Sandeep Samal
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