Transcript Lesson 17 The Role of Medicine

Warm-up
 Finish up your anti-tobacco or anti-alcohol ad.
Prepare yourself to present to the class.
 Presentation should include:
Description of your ad/ What truth are you portraying
Why you chose the words or pictures on your ad
Who are you trying to appeal to?
The Role of Medicine
Lesson 17
Objectives:
Identify causes of drug use/ abuse
Identify the differences between
prescription and over-the-counter
medications
Identify school and community resources
available for assistance with drug related
issues
Classification of Medicines
 Medicines: drugs that are used to treat or
prevent disease or other conditions
 Drugs: substances other than food that change
the structure or function of the body or mind
ALL Medicines are Drugs BUT not all Drugs are
Medicines
 4 Categories
Help prevent disease
Fight pathogens, or infectious agents that cause disease
Relieve pain
Help maintain or restore health and regulate the body’s
systems
Medicines That Prevent Disease
 Vaccines
 A preparation introduced into the body to stimulate an immune
response
 Contained weakened or dead pathogens that stimulate your body to
produce specific antibodies
 Antibodies produced give your body long-lasting protection against
these specific pathogens in the future
 Antitoxins
 Extracts of blood fluids that contain antibodies and act more
quickly than vaccines
 Produced by inoculating animals such as sheep, horses, or rabbits
with specific toxins that stimulate the animal’s immune system to
produce antibodies
 In humans the injection of antitoxins neutralizes the effect of the
toxins
 Ex: tetanus
Medicines that Fight Pathogens
 Antibiotics
 Chemical agents that destroy disease causing microorganisms
while leaving the patient unharmed
 Work by either killing harmful bacteria in the body or preventing
bacteria from reproducing
 PROBLEM: over the years many strains of bacteria have
emerged that are resistance to certain antibiotics
 2 reasons this has occurred
• Overexposure to antibiotics
• Failure to finish a prescription medication
 Antivirals
 Suppress the virus, don’t kill it
 Antifungals
 Suppress infections
 Ex: athletes foot or ringworm
Medicines that Relieve Pain
 Analgesics
 Pain relievers
 Range from mild (aspirin) to strong narcotics (morphine,
codeine)
 Aspirin
 Can be DANGEROUS
 Even in small does it can irritate the stomach
 Can cause dizziness and ringing in the ears
 Children who take aspirin are at risk of developing Reye’s
Syndrome
• Potentially life threatening illness of the brain and liver
• Aspirin should not be given to someone under the age of 20 unless
directed by a health care professional
 Alternatives to aspirin include acetaminophen (found in Tylenol)
or Ibuprofen (found in Motrin)
 Acetaminophen is recommended for children
Medicines that Promote Health
 Medicines that maintain or restore health, enabling many people
with chronic diseases to function at an increased level of wellness
 Allergy Medicines
 Antihistamines and other medicines to reduce allergy symptoms
 Sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, runny nose
 Body-Regulating Medicines
 Regulate body chemistry
 Examples
• insulin used to treat diabetes
• inhalers used to relieve asthma symptoms
• cardiovascular medicines used to regulate blood pressure, normalize heartbeats
or regulate other functions of the cardiovascular system
 Antidepressant and Antipsychotic Medicines
 Normalize brain chemistry
 Example
• Mood stabilizers used in treatment of mood disorders, depression and
schizophrenia
 Helps people with these problems to live healthy, productive lives
 Cancer Treatment Medicines
 Reduce rapid cell growth and help stop the spread of cancer cells
 example:
• Chemotherapy is used to kill fast-growing cancer cells
Medicines and the Body
 Side effects: reactions to medicine other than the one intended
 Additive Interaction: medicines work together in a positive way
 Muscle relaxant prescribed with an anti-inflammatory to treat joint pain
 Synergistic Effect: interaction of two or more medications that results in a
greater effect than when the medicines are taken alone
 One medicine may boost the rate of digestion, enabling a second medicine to be
absorbed faster
 Antagonistic Interactions: effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced
when taken with another medicine
 Antirejection medicines may reduce the effectiveness of insulin
 Tolerance: Condition when the body becomes used to the effect of a
medicine and requires increasingly larger doses of the medicine to produce
the same effect
 Withdrawal: occurs when a person stops using a medicine on which he or
she has a chemical dependence
 Symptoms include nervousness, insomnia, sever headaches, vomiting, chills and
cramps
 Sometimes requires medical intervention
Medicine Safety
 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 All medicines must meet the standards set by the FDA before
being approved and made available for sale
 Determines how a medicine should be released to the public
 Prescription:
• Written approval by a physician is needed
• Dispensed only by a licensed pharmacist
 Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines
• Wide variety of medicines available without a prescription
 Requires all manufacturers to
supply information about a medicine’s
chemical composition, intended use,
effect, and possible side effects
Figure 23.1 Pg 590
Prescription Medicine Labels
Medicine Misuse
 It is the responsibility of individuals and families to use
medicines and supplement as they are prescribed or
intended by law, policy, or commonly accepted practice
 Failure to follow instructions can have serious health
consequences
 Other types of misuse include:
 Giving prescription medicine to a person form whom it was not
prescribed or taking someone else’s prescription
 Taking too much or too little of a medicine
 Taking a medicine for a longer or shorter period than prescribed
 Discontinuing use of a medicine without informing the health
care professional
 Mixing medicines