KARACHI: A lady health expert has warned the citizens to stay away from self-medication practices as it can cause severe adverse reactions, and mask to severe diseases.
Dr Ruqaiya S. Qureshi, an executive of a private pharmaceutical company, was speaking at the 57th public awareness seminar on “self-medication” held at the Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi.
Dr Panjwani Center and Virtual Education Project Pakistan (VEPP) jointly organized the seminar with an objective to raise public awareness about the most important current challenges, which our nation is facing.
She said that self-medication was defined as the selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat self-recognized or self-diagnosed conditions or symptoms.She told that all members of the society were needed to recognize himself and make consciousness among others.
The health expert informed in the majority sickness episodes, self-medication is the first choice which makes it an ordinary perform globally, adding that exercise of medications without earlier medical consultation regarding indication, dosage, and period of dealing is referred to as taking any medication without a proper test.
Consequences of self-medication include incorrect self-diagnosis, delays in seeking appropriate medical advice, potential adverse reactions, worsening of the condition, dangerous drug interaction, masking of severe diseases and risk of dependence and abuse, the lady expert said.
The most common health issues in Pakistan include malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever, cancer, ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, acute respiratory infection, hypertension, asthma, diarrhea, and mental health, she said.
Talking about nutrition, she said that nutrition was input and a foundation for health and development, saying that healthy food and diet make a body fit and immune to diseases.