Patient errors
Medical errors of patients. Doctor's recommendations
Alexander Grigoriev, the magazine "60 years is not an age"
Published in the online magazine "Third Age"Probably, almost every potential patient is afraid of medical errors.
There are stories about how one doctor pulled out a perfectly healthy tooth without noticing the patient, and another forgot scissors in the abdominal cavity during an operation to remove the appendix... Yes, medical errors do happen, but these are usually only isolated cases. But the wrong actions of the patients themselves in everything that concerns their health often lead to more serious consequences.
Specialists analyzed a whole range of issues related to medicine, with communication between doctors and patients, with the attitude of patients to therapy, to taking medications and identified a number of points that negatively affect the quality of treatment. The wrong behavior of those people who want to be healthy, but in fact do little to do this, ultimately harms their health. Here are just ten of the most common mistakes made by patients. Try to comprehend them in order to prevent your wrong actions in the future, increase your own role and responsibility in maintaining stable health.
1. You don't check the expiration date of medicines. One or two weeks, most likely, do not play a special role, but if the drug is overdue for a much longer period, then the chemicals in its composition may change their properties, becoming less effective or even dangerous to health. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully look through the home first aid kit at least twice a year and get rid of expired medicines without pity. For example, you can add an audit of the first aid kit to your list of tasks performed during the spring and autumn general cleaning of the apartment.
2. You do not undergo periodic preventive examinations. Even if you don't have any pain, preventive examinations are a necessary measure for those who care about their own health. Make it a rule to visit a dentist, gynecologist, therapist at least once a year, take all blood and urine tests, do fluorography, electrocardiogram once a year, mammography once every 2 years for women after 40 years, and once a year after 50 years. Do not wait for the doctor to suggest or remind you of the need to undergo a preventive examination, but insist on periodic examinations yourself.
3. You are not completely honest with the doctor. It can be difficult to admit both to yourself and to your doctor that, for example, you smoke a lot, drink periodically, lead a sedentary lifestyle, eat incorrectly and irregularly. But after all, the doctor will not judge you for improper behavior, he just needs to know about your habits in order to choose the right medicine and give the most optimal recommendations for the organization of your regime. So to the doctor, as well as to the priest, lay out everything as in spirit.
4. You take antibiotics at the first signs of a runny nose. How many times has it been said about the inadmissibility of this, but doctors admit that patients simply do not hear them! We repeat here again: even if you have a very stuffy nose and sore throat, do not rush to take antibiotics! You may not have an ordinary "cold" caused by bacteria, but an acute viral respiratory infection. Antibiotics are powerless against viruses. And uncontrolled intake of them can lead to the appearance of bacteria in the body that are resistant to these drugs. And then, even if antibiotics are needed, they will not be able to have a therapeutic effect… Remember: taking antibiotics for colds is possible only with prolonged high temperature or the appearance of sputum of an unusual color.
5. In matters of health, you "consult" with the Internet, not with doctors. The Internet is an indispensable source of information, and it is often useful to learn more about your diagnoses, about a particular medicine. But you can do this only after visiting a doctor and consulting with him. Of course, using the Internet is easier and faster than going to the doctor, but if you do not have a medical education, you cannot distinguish valuable advice from incorrect, outdated and even dangerous information. So do not play doctor and do not try to diagnose yourself or prescribe treatment, otherwise there is a high risk that instead of a banal migraine you will "find" a brain tumor – or vice versa.
6. You are not taking the prescribed medications correctly. The correct time of taking medications is extremely important for the effect of their action. There is even a whole science – chronopharmacology, which sets the most optimal time for taking medications, taking into account the physiology of the body. For example, B vitamins, as well as A, E and beta-carotene, experts advise taking up to 12 hours, but ascorbic acid – in the afternoon.
Antihistamines (suprastin, tavegil, diazolin) they are more actively absorbed from 19 to 21 hours, and the diuretic furasemide – at 10 o'clock in the morning. Iodine preparations, including dietary supplements iodine-active, are more useful to take before 11 o'clock in the morning, and aspirin from 20 to 22 o'clock. Sedatives are used at night, as well as antacids prescribed for gastritis with high acidity and peptic ulcer disease. In contrast, hyperacid drugs aimed at increasing the acidity of gastric juice – from 7 to 9 o'clock in the morning.
Another mistake that people who are far from medicine often make when taking medications is that, having missed the time of taking them, they then double the dose of the medicine in order to "catch up". This is not only absolutely unnecessary, but even dangerous. The action of most regularly taken medications is designed to maintain a stable level of essential substances in the blood. Taking too large a dose can only cause intoxication of the body.
7. You do not inform the doctor about all the medications you take. At the same time, many vitamins, minerals, medicinal herbs and biologically active food additives, not to mention chemical preparations, can significantly affect the effect of medications prescribed by a doctor. After all, it may happen that some substances contained in them will react with the components of the medication already taken, and the effect of the therapeutic effect of both drugs will be reduced. But at the same time, the risk of adverse reactions and complications increases. Antibiotics, for example, can negate the effect of oral contraceptives. So do not make mistakes – tell your doctor about all the medications you take.
8. You do not take prescribed medications until the end of the course. Feeling better after a few pills, you stop taking them or reduce the dose in order not to "poison the body". This is wrong and dangerous. It is especially important to take the entire prescribed dose when treating with antibiotics. We have already talked about the emergence of new types of microbes with improper use of antibacterial drugs. This is how bacterial resistance (as doctors say, resistance) to antibiotics develops. Early discontinuation of the antibacterial agent may lead to it. In addition, due to improper treatment, the disease may resume. So that you do not have the "temptation" to shorten the course of taking antibiotics, buy the right amount of prescribed pills at the pharmacy at once and take them as much and for as long as prescribed by the doctor.
9. The last time you were vaccinated was in early childhood. Whatever disputes arise around vaccination, it remains an important link in strengthening immunity. Adults also need to be vaccinated – a repeat of the DPT vaccination made in childhood every 10 years. You should also get vaccinated against rubella if you were not vaccinated in childhood, hepatitis and every epidemiological season to get vaccinated against influenza. (By the way, it's not too late to get vaccinated against the flu even now, in the first days of December). We also note that experts advise people over 60 to get vaccinated against shingles.
10. You don't know your family's medical history. Almost every disease, with the exception of some infectious diseases, is somehow related to heredity. Therefore, in order to preserve your own health, it is very important to know what your relatives have been ill with during their lives and, in case of their illness, inform doctors about it. There are situations when, with difficulties in determining the diagnosis, information about the disease of relatives helps doctors clarify the picture!
Therefore, try to make a kind of medical "family tree" of your family in writing. Start with yourself, your parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents. Pay special attention to cases of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and any other chronic or generational diseases, noting the age of the patients if possible. Try to update the information every few years. In the end, it will also be useful for your children.
Remember that it is you, not the doctor, who are responsible for your own health and for the health of your children. Statistics show that patients who seek to understand the essence of the disease and treatment methods and ask a lot of questions to the doctor receive better treatment. So be vigilant and do not make mistakes, because your health is in your hands!
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru24.05.2013