Prescription drugs in the United States have passed rigorous clinical trials for safety and efficacy to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval. Most of these drugs are used to treat numerous conditions that range from mildly annoying to life-threatening while some are taken to prevent disease in high-risk individuals.
Prescription Drug Types
The many types of prescription drugs offer a unique set of health benefits. Antibiotics, antivirals and antihelmintics kill organisms that damage health and sometimes threaten life. High blood pressure medications help prevent heart attack and stroke. Narcotic and anti-inflammatory medications alleviate pain. Antidepressants treat depression and other psychiatric illnesses. Anticoagulants help prevent blood clots while antidiabetics help prevent complication caused by diabetes and chemotherapy drugs offer life-prolonging or life-saving treatment for cancer.
Significance
Physicians and other qualified professionals prescribe prescription medications to treat and prevent medical and psychiatric conditions. The initial prescription is only one part of an ongoing process that may involve laboratory testing, patient interviews or subsequent physical examinations to monitor the patient for adverse effects or to determine the optimum drug dosage. A Kaiser Family Foundation Health Poll Report from 2005 indicates that 78 percent of Americans have a positive view of prescription drugs. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, between 2003 and 2006, 47 percent of queried Americans responded that they had taken one or more prescription medications in the past month.
Features
Prescription drugs are used to save life, improve health, lengthen life, reduce pain, alleviate psychiatric illnesses and correct imbalances of body chemicals. They can improve quality of life by reducing seizures, improving sleep and controlling tremors. Prescription drugs offset the effects of harmful organisms, disease, injury, poor lifestyle choices and aging.
Potential
Personalized medicine is quickly becoming a reality. Laboratory testing can tell physicians specifics about an individual's disease or likelihood for disease, allowing the physician to tailor prescription drug treatments that will work most effectively and have a lower risk of adverse effects. Personalized medicine is currently being used to treat patients with a type of heart condition and some types of cancer, explains the Personalized Medicine Coalition. Personalized medicine is likely to be utilized for more conditions in the future, ultimately changing the prescription drug landscape.
Warning
Although prescription drugs offer many benefits, it is important that they are taken only when they are prescribed for the individual. Taking someone else's medication or taking one's own medicine differently than it is prescribed can be dangerous. Physicians, nurses and pharmacists can address concerns about prescription medications.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Therapeutic Drug Use
- Kaiser Family Foundation: Kaiser Health Poll Report: Views on Prescription Drugs and the Pharmaceutical Industry
- Personalized Medicine Coalition: Personalized Medicine 101
- "2010 Lippincott's Nursing Drug Guide"; Amy M. Karch, R.N., M.S.; 2010
