The dangers of self-medication in alternative medicines

Gulf News

Herbal medicines should always be taken after consulting a qualified medical professional, explains a UAE-based Ayurveda doctor.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/special-reports/breathlessness-hives-cough-allergies-these-uae-residents-are-in-serious-trouble-with-over-the-counter-medicines-1.1692787612361  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #health #medicines

Transcript

00:00When it comes to alternative medicines, especially Ayurveda, people take self-medication for

00:13granted thinking that as Ayurvedic medicines are safe and natural, they can be consumed

00:18without any side effects for any prolonged period or without any medical supervision.

00:23I should say that this concept is totally wrong and it can be potentially dangerous

00:28even. Aristas are one of the most popular Ayurvedic medicines and most commonly misused

00:35in this way too. We can see people stocking different kinds of aristas at their home without

00:41knowing the indications or contraindications or without having any medical advice. They

00:46would have just heard from somewhere that this arista works for this. In fact, aristas

00:51are the Ayurvedic formulations which should be used judiciously and for only prescribed

00:56period of time, that too for exact indications. And contrary to the common belief, aristas

01:02are having contraindications in many cases also. One of the saddest part of self-medication

01:08or over-the-counter medication is, many a times you may miss the chance of a proper

01:12diagnosis or even a serious diagnosis. I had a case few years back where a 60-year-old

01:18lady came to me for back pain consultation. During the case taking, I asked her about

01:23her gynecological history and she very casually revealed that she had few episodes of menopausal

01:28bleeding few weeks back. She took some Ayurvedic medicines from the nearby shop and the bleeding

01:34got arrested. She was never ever bothered why the bleeding would have happened for her

01:38after 10 years of her menopause, where in fact any bleeding after 1 year of menopause

01:44should be seriously investigated. I forcefully sent her for further investigations and she

01:49got diagnosed with a uterine cancer. Another negative part of self-medication is that many

01:56a times the therapy itself becomes ineffective. It usually happens with cough syrups or lehiyas,

02:02especially in cases of dry, irritant cough and all. People will come and tell, doctor

02:08I have taken this particular syrup for these many days or this particular syrup and lehiya

02:13for these many days but it didn't work for me. In fact, in all the cases, it will be

02:19of self-medication. They would have just googled which is the best Ayurvedic cough syrup or

02:24they would have seen in some YouTube channels that this is the best cough syrup ever. In

02:28fact, if you are approaching an Ayurvedic doctor, a registered one, many a times these

02:33cough syrups may not be there in the prescription even, especially in cases of different stages

02:39or causes of cough, different medicines will be advised. So, one thing I want to say specifically

02:45that you should always keep in your mind whether it is Ayurveda or any other system, medicines

02:50are always medicines. So, the usage and dosage of medicines should be under the prescription

02:56of a registered healthcare professional. So, it is crucial to consult an Ayurvedic doctor

03:01before attempting any kind of Ayurvedic medicines for its safety and efficacy.

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