I totally agree with the saying of A. France that the sense of proportion is everything in the art. Moreover, I believe that it is the most important thing in the other aspects of our life as well. No matter what we do, we must always know where enough is enough. Excessive diligence can spoil the best deed and the noblest intention.

The loss of the sense of proportion in everything that concerns medicine can cause devastating results. Here works the same rule as in the law: ignorance does not reprieve anyone. To be on the safe side every person must be aware of how to use medications safely in order to get healed, not to destroy his own or somebody else’s health.

To provide the patients with the most sufficient information about how to use drugs safely, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a special educational program, aimed in explaining the right usage of over-the-counter (OTC) pain-relievers.

The only rule FDA advises to stick to is reading the label or data sheet of the drug before taking it. One can always find a list of drug components there. Many pills for treating different diseases contain the same ingredients. It is important not to use such drugs at the same time, as it can result in overdosage.

By the way, according to the body mass or age, a patient can define his individual dose of the drug per day. Mind that OTC drugs are said to be safe and effective; nevertheless overdosage is not a rare thing, which happens if a person does not follow the instructions. At this point any drug becomes dangerous and leads to serious and even lethal consequences.

Data sheet also informs about possible side effects, which can be caused by the given medication. This information will help a patient understand whether it is safely for him to use the pill or when it is better to stop taking it.

Interaction with other medications (and food as well) is one more important point. Drugs usually consist of chemical substances, which, if come together in the human organism, react with each other. This situation often results in the worsening of the patient’s health. Therefore, it is not advisable to take three different pills at once. Fatty food and alcohol are also bad companions of the drugs. The majority of medications are taken in half an hour after meal, while alcohol is usually excluded from the ration.

It is also necessary to mention about a notion of drug tolerance. If one takes certain medication regularly for a long time, his organism gets used to it (you must remember some of the well-known persons, who got used to arsenic - Rasputin, Cesar...) and does not respond to it properly. Therefore, larger doses, a pause in taking this medication or switching to another drug are needed.

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Special attention must be paid to the taking medications by children. Parents should always be careful with checking dosage and active components of any drug not to harm the growing organism of a kid.

Pregnant and breast-feeding women should either strictly follow the instruction or consult a health-care provider before taking medications.

All this was said about the OTC medications, the instructions to which are available in every package. Prescriptive drugs, on the other hand, must be taken by doctor’s order.

No doubt, medicine is good and helpful. Nevertheless, exceeding limits is vicious even in good deeds.

Ivanna

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