Prescription

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Prescription OTC Medications
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Types of Medicines

• Medicines are drugs that are used to treat or
  prevent diseases or other conditions.
• Drugs are substances other than food that change
  the structure of the body or mind.
• All medicines are drugs, but not drugs are
  medicines.

• Drugs are effective in treating illness when
  taken as directed by a physician or according to
  the label instructions.

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Types of Medicines

• Medicines that treat or prevent illness can be
  classified into four broad categories
• Medicines that help prevent disease
• Medicines that fight pathogens (germs)
• Medicines that relieve pain or other symptoms
• Medicines that manage chronic conditions, help
  maintain or restore health, and regulate body
  systems

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Preventing Disease

• 1. Vaccines a preparation that prevents a
  person from contracting a disease.
• They contain weakened or dead pathogens that
  cause the disease.
• When injected into your body, the vaccine
  produces antibodies that fight those pathogens.

• Your body also produces memory cells that recall
  how to make these antibodies.
• Some vaccines provide you with long-lasting
  protection while others protection fades over
  time.

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Preventing Disease

• 2. Antitoxins they help neutralize the effects
  of toxins produced by certain bacteria.

• Antitoxins are usually produced by injecting
  animals with safe amounts of a specific toxin
  which stimulates the animals immune system to
  produce antibodies which are used to make an
  antitoxin.

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Fighting Pathogens

• Antibiotics a class of drug that destroys
  disease-causing microorganisms called bacteria.
• They are effective only against bacteria and will
  not cure illnesses caused by viruses.

• They work by killing the harmful bacteria in the
  body, or by preventing bacteria from reproducing.

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Fighting Pathogens

• Some antibiotics produce side effects some cause
  allergic reactions and they can lose their
  effectiveness due to the bacteria adapting to the
  drug use over time.

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Fighting Pathogens

• Bacteria can develop resistance in two ways
• When the antibiotic is overused
• When the patient doesnt finish the full
  prescription. If you do not finish taking the
  full prescription, you may not kill all the
  bacteria. The remaining bacteria may develop a
  resistance, or immunity, to the treatment.

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Fighting Pathogens

• 2. Antivirals These drugs are available to
  treat some viral illnesses.
• They suppress the virus, but do not kill it the
  person will still have the virus in his or her
  body.
• As a result, the person often has symptom-free
  periods followed by flare-ups when symptoms
  reappear.

• Like bacteria, viruses can also develop a
  resistance to medications.

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Fighting Pathogens

• 3. Antifungals these drugs suppress or kill
  fungus cells, such as athletes foot and ringworm.

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Relieving Pain

• The most commonly used medicines are analgesics.
• They are used to treat pain, reduce fever, and
  fight inflammation (redness, swelling, and pain).
• They range from mild medicines, such as aspirin,
  acetaminophen, or ibuprofen to strong narcotics
  such as morphine and codeine

• Children who take aspirin are at risk of
  developing Reyes syndrome, a potentially
  life-threatening illness.

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Managing Chronic Conditions

• Some medicines are used to treat chronic
  conditions.
• These medicines maintain or restore health and
  offer people with chronic disease a higher level
  of wellness.

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Managing Chronic Conditions

• Allergy Medicines
• Antihistimines reduce allergy symptoms by
  blocking the chemicals released by the immune
  system that cause allergic symptoms
• Epinepherine is used by individuals who know they
  are allergic to substances that cause severe
  reactions (e.g., peanuts, bee stings)

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Managing Chronic Conditions

• 2. Body Regulating Medicines
• Insulin is used by people with diabetes to
  regulate the amount of sugar in their blood.
• Asthma sufferers may take medicines every day to
  control symptoms and prevent attacks.
• Cardiovascular medicines are taken to regulate
  blood pressure, normalize irregular heartbeats,
  or regulate other functions of the cardiovascular
  system.

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Managing Chronic Conditions

• Antidepressant and Antipsychotic Medicines
• These medicines can help regulate brain
  chemistry, or stabilize moods.

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Managing Chronic Conditions

• 4. Cancer Treatment Medicines
• These medicines can reduce rapid cell growth and
  help stop the spread of cancer cells.
• Because these medications can also destroy
  healthy cells, serious side effects may occur as
  part of the treatment.

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Prescription vs OTC Medicines

• Prescription medicines are medicines that are
  dispensed only with the written approval of a
  licensed physician or nurse-practitioner.

• Over-the counter (OTC) medicines are medicines
  you can buy without a doctors prescription

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Reactions to Medications

• Side effects are reactions to medicines other
  than the one intended.
• Some side effects may be mild, but others may be
  more severe and can even cause death.

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Reactions to Medications

• 2. Medicine interactions can occur when two or
  more medications are taken together, or when a
  medication is taken with certain food.
• The combination may have a different effect than
  when the medicine is taken alone.

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Reactions to Medications

• Types of medicine interactions include
• Additive interaction occurs when medicines work
  together in a positive way.
• Synergistic effect the interaction of two or
  more medicines that results in a greater effect
  than when each medicine is taken alone. One
  medicine increases the strength of the other

• c. Antagonistic interaction occurs when the
  effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced
  when taken with another medicine.

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Reactions to Medications

• 3. Tolerance is a condition in which the body
  becomes used to the effects of a medicine.
• The body requires increasingly larger doses to
  produce the same effect.
• Sometimes a person will experience reverse
  tolerance where the body requires less medicine.

• Withdrawal occurs when a person stops using a
  medicine on which he or she has become
  physiologically dependent.
• Symptoms of withdrawal can include
• Nervousness
• Insomnia
• Severe headaches
• Vomiting
• Chills
• Cramps

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Medicine Misuse Abuse

• Medicine misuse involves using a medicine in ways
  other than the intended use.
• Failing to follow the instructions on or in the
  package
• Giving a prescription medicine to a person for
  whom it was not prescribed, or taking another
  persons medicine

• Taking too much or too little medicine
• Taking a medicine for a longer or shorter period
  than prescribed or recommended.
• Discontinuing use of a medicine with out
  informing your health care provider
• Mixing medicines without the knowledge of your
  health care provider

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Medicine Misuse Abuse

• Medicine misuse is intentionally taking
  medications for nonmedical reasons.
• One danger of medicine misuse or abuse is drug
  overdose which is a strong, sometimes fatal
  reaction to taking a large amount of a drug.

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Prescription Medicine Abuse

• Prescription medications are highly beneficial
  treatments for a variety of health conditions

• When abused taken by someone other than the
  patient for whom it was prescribed, or taken in a
  manner or dosage other than what was prescribed
  they can produce serious adverse health effects,
  including addiction.

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Prescription Medicine Abuse

• The following three classes of medications are
  most commonly abused
• Opioids
• CNS depressants
• Stimulants

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Opioids

• Opioids are analgesic, or pain relieving
  medications.
• When properly managed (taken exactly as
  prescribed) they are safe and rarely cause
  addiction

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Opioids

• Common compounds of Opioids include
• Hydrocodone (Vicodin)
• Oxycodone (OxyContin)
• Morphine
• Fentanyl
• Codeine
• Propoxyphene (Darvon)
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Meperidine (Demerol)

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Opioid Abuse

• Opioid can be taken orally, or the pills crushed
  and the powder snorted or injected.
• Snorting or injecting opioids results in the
  rapid release of the drug into the bloodstream,
  exposing the person to high doses and causing
  overdose reactions.

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Opioid Abuse

• Adverse effects of opioid abuse include
• Drowsiness
• Constipation
• Depress breathing
• Death

• Symptoms of withdrawal include
• Restlessness
• Muscle bone pain
• Insomnia
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Cold flashes
• Involuntary leg movements

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CNS Depressants

• CNS depressants (tranqilizers sedatives) are
  medications that slow normal brain function.
• They are often prescribed to treat anxiety
  disorders and sleep disorders

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CNS Depressants

• Barbiturates
• Mebaral Nembutal
• 2. Benzodiazepines
• Valium, Xanax, and ProSom
• 3. Newer sleep medication
• Ambien, Sonata, and Lunestra

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CNS Depressant Abuse

• CNS depressants are usually taken orally,
  sometimes in combination with other drugs to
  counteract the effects of other licit or illicit
  drugs (e.g. stimulants)

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CNS Depressant Abuse

• CNS depressants should not be combined with any
  medication that causes drowsiness, or with
  alcohol.
• If combined, they can slow both heart rate and
  respiration, which could be fatal.

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Stimulants

• Stimulants increase alertness, attention and
  energy. They also increase blood pressure and
  heart rate, constrict blood vessels, increase
  blood glucose, and open up the pathways of the
  respiratory system.

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Stimulants

• They are prescribed to treat asthma other
  respiratory problems, obesity, neurological
  disorders, ADHD, narcolepsy, and depression.

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Stimulants

• The two classes of stimulants include
• Amphetamines
• Adderall, Dexedrine
• 2. Methylphenidate
• Concerta, Ritalin

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Stimulant Abuse

• Stimulants can be taken orally, but some abusers
  crush the tablet, dissolve them in water, and
  then inject the mixture (complications can arise
  because insoluble fillers in the tablets can
  block small blood vessels)

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Stimulant Abuse

• Abuse can result in
• Irregular heartbeat
• Dangerously high body temperatures
• Cardiovascular failure
• Seizures
• Hostility or paranoia

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Dextromethorphan (DXM)

• DXM is the active ingredient found in OTC cough
  and cold medications.
• When taken in recommended doses, these
  medications are safe and effective.

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DXM Abuse

• DXM is taken orally in excessive amounts.
• Effects include
• Impaired motor function
• Numbness
• Nausea/vomiting
• Increased heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Brain hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain)