|
STORIES ON HEALTH
< Back to main Stories on Health page
Making
The Most Of Your Medication
(NAPSA)-Over 50 percent of Americans don’t
take their medication as directed. Take the National Association
of Chain Drug Stores Pharmacy Care Quiz at
www.GetRxHealthy.com to
check your medication IQ and get instant tips on how to partner
with your pharmacist to improve your health. It was recently
revealed that while this country spent more that $144 billion on
prescription medicines in 2000, another $177 billion was spent
fixing problems associated with the use of prescription
medications.
In contrast, a three-year study of nearly
400 patients discovered that when patients partnered with their
pharmacists, physicians and other healthcare providers, over 90%
took their medication correctly as prescribed by their doctors. Of
the nearly 400 respondents being treated for high cholesterol, for
example, the majority reached and maintained nationally recognized
goals for treating their condition.
Fortunately, there are five things you can
do to stay on the right side of the statistics:
- If you have a question about your
medication, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
- Get all of your prescriptions filled at
the same pharmacy so your complete medical history will be on
file; let the pharmacist know every medication, herbal remedy
or vitamin you take.
- When you get prescriptions refilled,
make sure the medicine looks exactly the same as it did the
last time. If not, ask why.
- If you see more than one doctor, let
each know what the other prescribes.
- Read all the information you receive
about your medications and learn all the names of the drugs
you take.
Says pharmacist and syndicated columnist
Suzy Cohen, “When people don’t take their medication the right
way they put their lives at risk. Taking time to read the label of
your prescriptions and know about the drugs you take can keep you
well.”
Your pharmacist can help you understand
how the medications you’ve been prescribed can do you the most
good.
|
