Effects of Drug Abuse: 5 Side Effects of Drug Abuse

The indiscriminate use of drugs or drug abuse has its own side effects, and some of them are either due to wrong application, not following the necessary precaution or over applying the drugs. Some of the known side effects of drug abuse therefore include:

1. Over dosage: Though the patient has no tendency to increase the dosage of the drug in order to produce a desired effect, he may accidentally take more than the needed dose either because he does not understand what dose he should take or because he feels that the higher the dose he takes the faster the drug cures his condition. Some over dosage can produce mild symptoms while others can be fatal.

2. Under dosage: One other side effect of drug abuse is under dosage. The patient may want to take the drug in order to treat or cure his ailment but ends up applying a dose not enough to take care of the disease or the offending organism. What this means is that the disease may progress unchecked since the drug taken is not enough to hinder its progress, and at the end resources and time are wasted. Fatality may as well result if the rate of progression of the disease is rapid.

3. Drug resistance: One major problem of drug under dosage is that the organism which the individual seeks to destroy gets exposed to a low dose of the drug and eventually develops resistance to it so that even the use of a higher dose of the same drug in the future refuses to take care of the condition. This is the same reason why the treatment of malaria has become problematic as the plasmodium keeps developing resistance to new efficacious drugs due to under dosage. This in the long run ensures that a lot of people end up losing their lives to a condition that would have been cured by simple adherence to the right drug dosage.

4. Potentiating disease: Some micro-organisms are naturally harmless to humans even as they habit some parts of the human body. These organisms which are known as commensal organisms can become potentially pathogenic or cause diseases when their natural state is altered by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics especially for a long period of time. For this reason, antibiotics should not be abused or used without a doctor’s prescription.

5. Drug reaction: Some drugs are able to cause severe toxic reactions when taken without the supervision of a physician who should ensure that certain drugs are administered concurrently with them or prior to their administration to minimize their reactions. But with drug abuse these precautionary measures may not be taken before applying the drugs thereby increasing the chances of severe reactions. Some of the severe reactions are anaphylactic reaction, asthmatic attack, severe diarrhea, tinnitus, deafness, acute hypotensive reaction, wheal, vomiting, etc.

It is therefore advisable to seek the doctor’s advice before taking any drug no matter how intelligent one may be. Drug abuse is dangerous and could destroy your life. Therefore, you must avoid it and don’t joke with your life as any mistake made on your life may prove irreversible or disastrous.

Harmful Effects and Consequences of Drug Abuse –

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