Eighty-seven percent of Australians over the age of fifty use at least one medicine each day.
Forty percent of those use five or more medicines.
We know that medicines have a really important role in improving the health of Australians.
They prevent disease or treat symptoms of problems that we have right now.
Getting the right information is a critical ingredient to using those medicines safely
and effectively.
There is a number of common myths about medicines, people often tell me, but when you break them
down, many of them aren’t true.
I’m interested in challenging those myths so that people have right information so that
they can use their medicine safely and effectively.
Many medicines are available in different brands.
Each of those alternative brands have the same active ingredient and have been tested
to make sure that they achieve the same concentration of that medicine in your blood.
That’s what we know is associated with the benefit that medicine provides and even some
of the harmful effects.
Those alternative brands may have some things that are different though.
They could have different inactive ingredients, different packaging and labelling and the
shape and color of the tablet or capsule could be quite different.
But given that these medicines are carefully tested to make sure that they meet the same
standards for quality, safety and efficacy, people should be confident that they’ll
do the same thing.
The marketing claims for a number of pain-relieving medicines suggest that they are able
to target particular parts of your body.
The reality is quite different.
When you take your medicine orally, it goes into your bloodstream and all parts of your body.
It can’t target a particular type of pain.
The risk is that, if you believe that a medicine can specifically target one part of your body,
you might be taking medicine for your headache and your back pain and get double the dose
that you really need.
So, remember if you have pain, talk to your pharmacist or doctor about which of the pain-relieving
medicines is most suitable for you.
One in three Australians over the age of fifty regularly take medicine to lower their cholesterol
and reduce their risk of heart disease.
The statin medicines are the most commonly prescribed.
These medicines provide enormous benefit in reducing the burden of heart disease in an
individual and also in the community.
But many people don’t realize that the benefits of using a statin to lower their cholesterol,
also requires them to modify their lifestyle.
By that I mean increasing the amount of exercise they do and modifying their diet to eat less fat.
These things as a package reduce your risk of heart disease and if you only take the tablet, then
you won’t receive the same benefit.
Combing alcohol with prescription medicines always should be done carefully.
There’s a number of medicines where alcohol should not be used.
This includes a number of sedatives, some antihistamines
and also many of the medicines used to treat mental health problems.
But the one that I’ve found most interesting over the years is people that say, I’m on an
antibiotic I can’t drink alcohol.
There’s only one class of antibiotics with the potential interaction with alcohol
and even the controlled studies there really couldn’t show a real problem.
So, the reality is that alcohol and antibiotics don’t interact.
What does interact is alcohol and you.
If you’re on antibiotics and you’re unwell, then alcohol will affect you more.
So, it’s really important to use alcohol carefully in that setting and avoid any problems.
So, we’re working towards the goal of personalized medicine.
That’s the right medicine for right person with the right information that they can understand
and use, to get the best out of that medicine.
So, they may be a number of myths about the medicines that you’re taking.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor to explain the facts to you.