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Prescription drug use in the U.S. has steadily been on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007-2008, the number of Americans who had recently taken prescription drugs rose to 48 percent, a jump from 44 percent 10 years earlier. If you are part of this growing trend of prescription drug takers, it's important to learn as much as you can about your medication, like why you are taking it and what the potential side effects are—and pharmacists can help provide this vital information. Woman's Day spoke with three pharmacists to find out what patients need to keep in mind when it comes to prescription medication. From protecting your family from drug abuse to opting for generic brands, here are nine things your pharmacist wants you to know. 1. Pharmacists are medical experts. While you may think pharmacists are more like technicians, they're actually far more qualified than that. "A lot of people think the level of competence ends at making sure you get the right drug in the right bottle," says Wendy Duncan, Pharm.D, dean of pharmacy at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. "That's an important part of what a pharmacist does, but they're also the most highly educated health professional in the area of medication. They know more than physicians about medications and doses, their side effects, the kind of forms they're in…everything." And this should be reassuring, adds Keith Hodges, Pharm.D, owner of Gloucester Pharmacy in Gloucester, Virginia, because your pharmacist is the last line of defense between you and your medication. 2. You're not asking enough questions. Being educated about your medication and its possible side effects is crucial to keeping yourself safe. And unfortunately not enough people take the extra steps to educate themselves. "A lot of people feel embarrassed to ask questions, but health literacy is a really, really big problem in the United States," Dr. Duncan says. Dr. Hodges strongly agrees. "I can't tell you how many people come in and don't know what their medication is for. People need to know what they're taking. They should know all the medications they're taking, what they're used for, and their possible complications," he says. "Knowledge makes a healthier patient." 3. Follow your dosage instructions! Admit it: You've been guilty of skipping one of your pills and just taking two the next time, or even stopping altogether once you're feeling better. Not only can this be dangerous to your health, but it's actually dangerous to us all. "Once people feel better, they stop taking the medication. But what ends up happening is they have a little antibiotic left around, and they might use it when they feel sick again. But antibiotics are very directed, so if it's for a specific bacterium it may not work. So you can develop resistance," says Dr. Duncan. "And over time, it means an antibiotic becomes ineffective so we have to find new entities and that takes a long time. Like MRSA [methicillin-resistant staph infection] right now; people die from that. And it's something people are shocked about because we've only had antibiotics around for a half a century. So if we're not careful, we may lose antibiotics and we'll end up in the same situation our great, great grandparents were in." If you have stopped taking your medications, or continually miss doses, be sure to contact your pharmacist or physician immediately to find out how to proceed. What else does your pharmacist want to tell you? Stories you might like:
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