SINCE World war 2, medical science has progressed to some stage where competitive medications are around to treat precisely the same ailment in various people. It’s not nearly brands (which is a trade issue) but generic drugs (which is a scientific issue). On this report, we shall look at the various factors that decide your selection of a specific drug.
Safety: The next sub-criteria should be considered beneath the criterion of safety:
* Acute therapeutic index: If your patient’s condition is acute, how effective is a particular drug regardless of whether it’s certain side-effects providing the acuteness from the condition is lowered? Example: narcotic pain-killers are very effective in healing pain but come with the potential side-effect of addiction.
* Long-term safety: medicine may be safe in short-term treatment, but wait, how safe it’s in long-term treatment? Example: antibiotics are acceptable in short-term treatment, but tend to have undesirable effects in case of prolonged use.
* Drug-drug interaction risk: Drugs are chemicals, and a lot of chemicals react to create a different chemical, which has an effect that will harm the patient or aggravate his/her condition. Example: A tricyclic anti-depressant and alcohol interact to create a new condition that warrants separate treatment.
Drug-drug interaction risk is of two sorts:
· Pharmacokinetic: In this kind of drug-drug interaction, two drugs, outside of the other, have certain effects on one or maybe more body processes (e.g., metabolism) that affects the performance from the other. Example: Darvocet-N (propoxyphene and acetaminophen) inhibits the act of a liver enzyme that Lexapro (escitalopram) is dependent upon for its metabolism. This will cause a rise in the side-effects of Lexapro.
· Pharmacodynamic: Here, several drugs actually produce the same relation to precisely the same organ, thus enhancing the total, added effect. Example: Lexapro has certain side-effects for example drowsiness and fatigue. Darvocet-N also acts similarly on the brain. Thus, the side-effects of the two medicines are more intense.
Tolerability: A drug may be effective but not tolerable by all patients. Example: Allergies to particular drugs in certain people. Short-term and long-term tolerability must be considered. Efficacy: A drug is not equally good at all patients. For example, some patients with depression or anxiety disorders experience respite from escitalopram, but there are many who don’t, who therefore must be prescribed a different anti-depressant. The rate of start of therapeutic action is a vital step to be regarded too.
Cost: Cost does not necessarily mean the price of purchase of a certain medicine alone. It ought to also cover the price of treatments for a complication that will arise from using a different drug. Example: In a person who insists on taking alcohol but should be treated for depression is usually administered an SSRI drug because these drugs don’t potentiate the end results of alcohol, whereas another gang of anti-depressants (for example tricyclics) could cause a new problem in such patients, which will require a different and expensive treatment. Therefore, it’s easier to prescribe the more costly escitalopram rather than a cheaper tricyclic in this patients.
Simple treatment: The simplest mode of administration is preferred. When there is an alternative between a shot and oral administration, the latter is preferred if the efficacy of the two modes is the identical. Or, local application is chosen over the oral route where possible; e.g., antibiotic treatments for eye infections. Dosage and frequency of administration too are a key point to decide simple treatment.
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