Understanding Your Medication(s)

Understanding Your Medication(s)

By:

Linh Phan

Melanie Moore

Madhuri Patel

Nicholas Nyambegera

Daniel Nessel

Why? How? Who? When? Where?

Why: It is crucial to read the leaflet that the pharmacy provides about our medication(s) so we can have a clear understanding of what we are about to put into our body.

How: The medication(s) is/are most effective when the patient fully understands how to take the prescription(s) to make sure its working and doing what it is supposed to be doing and there are no surprises in doing so.

Who: Understanding your medication(s) affect you (as the patient) and with certain reactions to your medication(s), it will not only affect you, but your loved ones as well.

When: The time of the day and how much of the medication(s) greatly matters in terms of dosage and effectiveness.

Where: The leaflet to each of your medication will provide information to where will be the best place to store your medication, whether it is at room temperature or the refrigerator.

DRUG INTERACTIONS

INTERACTION TYPES

1. Drug-drug interactions

2. Drug-food interactions

IMPORTANCE

1. Polypharmacy

Side Effects of Your Drug

Most medication guides list both common and serious side effects

Ex: Common- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Serious- chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting

Allow patient information for decision-making

Warnings of:

When to get emergency help

When to discontinue use of medication

When to inform physician

Adverse Drug Reaction

Adverse Drug Reaction is a unwanted and possibly dangerous effects that could occur from a drug

Toxicity is the most prevalent type of adverse drug reaction.

Why is it important to know about ADR before taking the drug?

Duration of Drug

Duration of drug action depends on several factors: the absolute amount of drug given; the pharmaceutical preparation; the reversibility of drug action; the half-life of the drug; the slope of the concentration-response curve; the activity of metabolites, and the influence of disease on drug elimination. The duration of action of a drug with more than one effect may differ, depending on which effect is followed.

Reference Page

https://www.ismp.org/consumers/Read.asp

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/ucm163959.htm#know

http://www.bemedwise.org/quiz_facts/facts.htm

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM085729

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM467750.pdf

http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/clinical-pharmacology/adverse-drug-reactions/adverse-drug-reactions

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed.