Medicines And Drugs-Present And Prospective

On a cold Monday morning you wake up, not very fresh and energized but tired and hot instead, in pain and with sore throat. You call out for your parents or roommates and tell them your situation. They check your temperature give you some soup and immediately, without second thoughts suggest you to take a Paracetamol. You take the medicine as advised by the “experts” and go back to bed. But let’s do a retrospect here, was the illness and pain so unbearable? Could you not hold up until you could actually go see a physician? Was this a level three emergency that you had to take the medication?

Now you might be wondering, medicines are supposed to be taken when ill, then why am I suggesting otherwise?

I Agree, drugs are crucial parts of our lives, but why do we seem to have been addicted to them instead of just turning towards them when required? In case of disorders, serious diseases and illness, you don’t have a way out but to consume the prescribed medicine or drug. But are you aware that your body and the disease causing organisms, namely bacteria, fungi and viruses tend to become resistant towards medicines?

The misuse of medicines is a global crucial problem. Irrational usage of medicines and drugs has led to wastage of resources and most importantly evolution of susceptible pathogens to antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’. Due to this situation, the urge to discover and develop safe and efficient anti-microbial substances has arisen to cure lethal diseases. But do you know, to create or discover an anti-biotic or anti-microbial drug and to sell it in a safe & consumable form in the market takes approximately a decade or, even more. Due to this and with rising types and numbers of diseases, we are losing the battle between illness and life.

But, there is still some hope. Due to booming research and technological advancements like next generation sequencing, precision medicines and diagnostics, researchers and industrialists are working towards designing drugs which are personalized according to the requirement of the patient as concerned of the disease or conditions. But from research labs to the markets is a long journey and needs some patience and loads of funding.

What can we do in this scenario? Well there are certain things we CAN do!
Majorly, avoid taking medicines in inappropriate dosage and without consulting the physician. I have met people who claim to have a viral or fungal infection but end-up taking anti-bacterial medicines. Such situations can lead to destruction of the friendly bacteria in your gut and can make you more prone to other infections. As individuals responsible for goodness of both, our health and society, we can avoid such situations and read about the medicine or drug before consumption.

The bottom line here is eat well, exercise enough and consume drugs and medicines responsibly in order to live a healthy and safe life!