Author: Alex Thompson

Pharmacotherapy Wikipedia

If a person uses as much of the drug as they did before quitting, they can easily overdose because their bodies are no longer adapted to their previous level of drug exposure. An overdose happens when the person uses enough of a drug to produce uncomfortable feelings, life-threatening symptoms, or death. There can be instances where the same person, for the same condition, using the same drug, and where everything else is completely the same, might undergo a different duration of drug therapy.

The dosages of drugs for children are usually calculated on the basis of weight (milligrams per kilogram) or on the basis of body surface area (milligrams per square metre). If a drug has a wide margin of safety, it may be given as a fraction of the adult dose based on age, but the great variation in size among children of the same age complicates this computation. Children are not small adults, and drug dosages may be quite different than they are for adults. Other than using natural products, humans also learned to compound medicine by themselves. Leading causes of death worldwide include cardiovascular disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, accidental injuries, and chronic lung disease. A major preventable cause of death is cigarette smoking, which is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g., heart attack), cancer, stroke, and chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Indirect method refers to the healthcare professionals do not observe or measure the drug-taking behavior of the patient but use the other source of information to evaluate the compliance. The most important preventive behaviour in averting cancer is the avoidance of cigarette smoke. Smoking accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths, and there is increasing recognition of the danger of environmental or secondhand smoke to the nonsmoker. Primary prevention of skin cancer includes restricting exposure to ultraviolet light by using sunscreens or protective clothing. Although there’s no cure for drug addiction, treatment options can help you overcome an addiction and stay drug-free.

Preventive medicine

Emergency department (ED) clinicians are in a unique position to interact with people struggling with opioid addiction… Medications for opioid use disorder are safe, effective, and save lives. Many, though not all, self-help support groups use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, help people who are addicted to drugs. While naloxone has been on the market for years, a nasal spray (Narcan, Kloxxado) and an injectable form are now available, though they can be very expensive.

1. The chronic nature of addiction means that for some people relapse, or a return to drug use after an attempt to stop, can be part of the process, but newer treatments are designed to help with relapse prevention.
2. Leading causes of death worldwide include cardiovascular disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, accidental injuries, and chronic lung disease.
3. Metabolic rates, which affect pharmacokinetics, are much higher during childhood.
4. Someone may be given an antibiotic to treat an infection, only for the doctor to later realize that the person was infected with an organism that was resistant to that antibiotic!
5. Secondary prevention is the early detection of disease or its precursors before symptoms appear, with the aim of preventing or curing it.

Demineralization of bone and a reduction in bone mass (osteoporosis) occur most often in men and women age 70 or older and may result in fractures, low back pain, and loss of stature. Osteoporosis in postmenopausal women that is caused by estrogen deficiency is the most common manifestation. The most effective method for preventing loss of bone mass after menopause is estrogen replacement therapy and increased calcium intake. Primary preventive measures include increasing physical activity and avoiding cigarettes and heavy alcohol consumption. Like treatment for other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, addiction treatment is not a cure, but a way of managing the condition.

Disease & Medicine

Treatment enables people to counteract addiction’s disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives. Medication compliance is defined as the degree to which the patient follows the therapy that is recommended by healthcare professionals.[2] There are direct and indirect methods to evaluate compliance. Direct method refers to the measurement that the healthcare professionals observed or measure the patient’s drug-taking behavior.

Although a vaccine is expected, obstacles to its development are great. Primary preventive measures include abstaining from sexual contact, using condoms, and, among intravenous drug users, avoiding the sharing of needles. Multiple organizations worldwide have established recommendations and guidelines for disease prevention.

Furthermore, just as the pain threshold varies among individuals, so does the response to drugs. Some people need higher-than-average doses; some, being very sensitive to drugs, cannot tolerate even average doses, and they experience side effects when others do not. Because addiction can affect so many aspects of a person’s life, treatment should address the needs of the whole person to be successful. Counselors may select from a menu of services that meet the specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of their patients to help in their recovery. Different types of medications may be useful at different stages of treatment to help a patient stop abusing drugs, stay in treatment, and avoid relapse.

Evidence-based medicine

The self-help support group message is that addiction is an ongoing disorder with a danger of relapse. Self-help support groups can decrease the sense of shame and isolation that can lead to relapse. Alcohol abuse is the primary reason that accidents are a major cause of death in the United States. Other factors are failure to wear seat belts or motorcycle helmets, sleep deprivation, and guns in the home. Taking reasonable precautions and being aware of the potential dangers of alcohol and firearms can help reduce the number of deaths due to accidents.

Medication compliance

There are, of course, plenty of other things that may influence the duration of drug therapy. Someone may be given an antibiotic to treat an infection, only for the doctor to later realize that the person was infected with an organism that was resistant to that antibiotic! You better believe that can prolong a person’s duration of drug therapy.

Medicine as part of treatment

Medicine treatment options for opioid addiction may include buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone, and a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. Research shows that when treating addictions to opioids (prescription pain relievers or drugs like heroin or fentanyl), medication should be the first line of treatment, usually combined with some form of behavioral therapy or counseling. Medications are also available to help treat addiction to alcohol and nicotine. Infants and children may have different rates of absorption than adults because bowel motility is irregular or gastric acidity is decreased. Drug distribution may be different in some people, such as premature infants who have little fatty tissue and a greater proportion of body water. Metabolic rates, which affect pharmacokinetics, are much higher during childhood.

The total cholesterol level and elevated LDL level can be reduced by appropriate diet, whereas a low HDL can be raised by stopping smoking and increasing physical activity. If those measures do not provide adequate control, a variety of drugs capable of lowering the cholesterol level are available. Standard immunizations of infants and children include those for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, or whooping cough (DTP); polio (OPV); measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); Haemophilus influenzae type b (HbCV); and hepatitis B (HBV). A yearly vaccine against the influenza virus should be administered to infants and young children, to adults who are over age 65, to those at risk because of chronic cardiopulmonary disease, and to those in chronic care facilities. Adults at age 65 should also be immunized against pneumococcal pneumonia with a vaccine containing 23 of the most common strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Your treatment depends on the drug used and any related medical or mental health disorders you may have. For people with addictions to drugs like stimulants or cannabis, no medications are currently available to assist in treatment, so treatment consists of behavioral therapies. Treatment should be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and drug-related medical, mental, and social problems. After discussion with you, your health care provider may recommend medicine as part of your treatment for opioid addiction. Medicines don’t cure your opioid addiction, but they can help in your recovery. These medicines can reduce your craving for opioids and may help you avoid relapse.

Even after you’ve completed initial treatment, ongoing treatment and support can help prevent a relapse. Follow-up care can include periodic appointments with your counselor, continuing in a self-help program or attending a regular group session. In an opioid overdose, a medicine called naloxone can be given by emergency responders, or in some states, by anyone who witnesses an overdose. Additionally, medications are used to help people detoxify from drugs, although detoxification is not the same as treatment and is not sufficient to help a person recover. Detoxification alone without subsequent treatment generally leads to resumption of drug use. While relapse is a normal part of recovery, for some drugs, it can be very dangerous—even deadly.