Be your own doctor

“It's just a cold, buy your own medicine, why go see a doctor…” - I guess, many people think and act like that.

No need to see a doctor, no need to diagnose, and even no need to know what disease they have - many people are willing to self-diagnose, then go to the pharmacy to buy medicine like a real doctor. In many cases, when going to the pharmacy, with the advice of the pharmacy staff, what many people buy is not just simple cold pills but also antibiotics and supplements. And they completely trust the pharmacist. This is because there are many types of cold medicine that do not require a prescription, and even drugs that require a prescription to be sold, customers can easily buy without a prescription.

In many cases, when going to the pharmacy, with the advice of the pharmacy staff, what many people buy is not just simple cold pills but also antibiotics and supplements. Photo: Internet

I have been like that many times. When I and my family members had some symptoms of cold, cough, fever, I thought it was a simple illness, just need a few antibiotics, fever reducer and it would be fine, going to the doctor was both cumbersome and expensive. However, it was not until my family member got severe shingles because I “played the doctor myself” when the disease started that I realized my mistake.

Another time, a friend “told” me to take a special antibiotic for acne, I also believed it and went to the pharmacy to ask. Luckily, the pharmacist stopped me and said that it was a new generation antibiotic, which was effective but would destroy the body’s natural immune system. The pharmacist also told me that the situation of patients with antibiotic resistance was increasing in most medical facilities in Vietnam; while developed countries still use first generation antibiotics, Vietnam has had to use third and fourth generation antibiotics.

In many cases, pharmacists also have useful advice for people in using drugs. Photo: internet

Not only me, but many people also have the habit of using antibiotics indiscriminately. Whenever they have a fever, they assume they have an infection and go buy medicine to take. That action not only invisibly destroys the body's immune function, but in many cases, the body also becomes allergic, leading to unpredictable complications, even death.

In reality, being your own doctor is extremely dangerous. The unfortunate death in Ky Thinh Ward (Ky Anh Town) is a warning to both the people and large and small pharmacies as well as the authorities. Even though he knew his body was allergic, and even though many pharmacies refused to sell him the medicine, the patient still decided to lie to the staff of another pharmacy to buy the medicine to take. In the end, he died immediately after taking it. And, in reality, nowadays, many people think they understand their own bodies, "being their own doctors" for a long time, so their bodies naturally develop an immune mechanism to the medicine.

It is true that in areas where access to health services is limited, pharmacies are the closest place for people to go when they are sick, but the ease of buying drugs without a prescription, combined with a subjective mentality, has caused people to gradually fall into a spiral of "self-treatment - wrong medicine - complications - regret". What needs to change is not only the policy of managing the sale of drugs, but first of all, a change in awareness. We cannot take our health lightly, and we cannot gamble with our lives on pills that can be bought as easily as candy.

When you are sick, see a doctor. When you need medicine, get a prescription. Don’t let the habit of “playing your own doctor” make you… seriously ill, even incurable.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/tu-lam-bac-sy-post286622.html