There are different types of drugs with varying implications after use. The impact of the drug on the body depends on the amount and the content consumed. There are some drugs that when taken at a recommended amount work as expected. Nevertheless, there are some other drugs that when taken in excess or abused may have an adverse impact on the body functioning, especially to the central nervous system. Opioids are a category of drugs that have a significant impact on a human central nervous system when taken for a given period, without a health care practitioner’s clinical prescription (Manchikanti et al. 70). Opioids may have a negative impact on the functioning of the central nervous system, which may damage human brain functioning. This, therefore, calls for the need of a prescription for the pills to be taken, based on the number, frequency, and the conditions at which a patient is to take pills.
Prescription pills are a category of pharmaceutical drugs, also referred to as the prescription medicine that legally necessitates for the medical prescription. In North America, prescription pills are often referred to as the RX. Also, the prescription pills are commonly prescribed and dispensed with the monograph, which is what offers detailed information about the drug. This is aimed at assisting in the dispensing and prescribing of the drugs to the patients to avoid over the counter drugs as well as the drug abuse incidences.
Prescription pills may include pain relievers or opioids, Ritalin, Oxycontin, Vicodin, tranquilizers, sedatives, cough medications and Adderall. The list of the selected drugs are the ones that have always caused numerous impacts on the human body depending on their level of use and prescription pill abuse (Budnitz et al. 44). The reason for a prescription pill is to minimize the negative impacts that the drugs may have on the human body. However, the health departments have faced challenges in prescribing the medicines as some of the patients end up stopping to take the pills, or others may take it in excess. Moreover, another challenge in the prescription of the pills is where some of the patients may resolve to take medicines prescribed for someone else with a different diagnostic condition.
Over the years, beginning from the early days of the 1990s, the use of prescription pills has been on the rise. In most parts of the world, such as in Australia, America and the United Kingdom, the use of prescription pills has significantly increased. According to the Qato, Dima. et al. (477-480), cases of prescription drug abuse have risen considerably with the most significant percentage being on the older people’s category. They asserted that 88 percent of the older adults between the ages of 62 and 85 use at least one prescription pill a day, and on the other hand, only 35 percent of them consume not less than five prescription drugs concomitantly.
Prescription medications have an impact on human health, and some countermeasures have been taken to heal and rehabilitate patients of prescription pills. In most cases, there have been laws amended in countries such as Australia and United Kingdom which aim at reducing the drug abuse as a result of prescription pills (White et al., 260-266). Opioids lead in the number of cases reported to have adverse effects on the human central nervous system and its normal functioning. A continuous use of the opiates has an impact on the human brain such that whenever they are absent, a human brain fails to function correctly. Therefore, opioid use symptom is a severe case that results from the prescription drug abuse.
The negative impacts of the prescription pill abuse are wanting. In consideration of the rate at which adults are getting side effects of the opioids use, has called for the need to have a guideline that governs its manufacture, distribution, and its prescription. In their study, Qato, Dima. et al. concluded and recommended that;
The use of prescription medications and dietary supplements, and concurrent use of interacting medications has increased since 2005, with 15% of older adults potentially at risk for a major drug-drug interaction. Improving safety with the use of multiple medications has the potential to reduce preventable adverse drug events associated with medications commonly used among older adults. (473).
Therefore, in a recap of the issue of a prescription pill and how they have been misused, there is a need to have valid drug use guidelines. Some drugs that are taken at a recommended amount can work as expected. However, there are certain drugs that when taken in excess or abused may have an impact on the body functioning, especially to the central nervous system. Such abuses of drugs may be attributed to prescription pills and can have negative health effects. Health departments have faced challenges in prescribing the medicines as some of the patients end up stopping from taking the pills, or others may take in excess. With the increasing drug abuse, and cases of over-the-counter drug abuse, many people are going to get central nervous system complications that result from the opioid use, hence the need for the drug prescription guidelines worldwide.
- Budnitz, Daniel S., et al. “Emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events in older Americans.” New England Journal of Medicine 365.21 (2011): 2002-2012.
- Manchikanti, Laxmaiah, and Angelie Singh. “Therapeutic opioids: a ten-year perspective on the complexities and complications of the escalating use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids.” Pain physician 11.2 Suppl (2008): S63-S88.
- Qato, Dima M., et al. “Changes in prescription and over-the-counter medication and dietary supplement use among older adults in the United States, 2005 vs 2011.” JAMA internal medicine 176.4 (2016): 473-482.
- White, Barbara Prudhomme, Kathryn A. Becker-Blease, and Kathleen Grace-Bishop. “Stimulant medication use, misuse, and abuse in an undergraduate and graduate student sample.” Journal of American College Health 54.5 (2006): 261-268.