Side effects written on a medicine bottle
Whether they are printed in a tiny font on a medicine bottle label or rushed through at the end of an advertisement, side effects of medicines seem to not be given much attention. However, they do exist. Today in the lecture, Ron brought up an example with acetaminophen, an ingredient found in aspirin. A study he shared with us linked acetaminophen to 56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths. However, the benefits of taking medicines like aspirin outweigh the costs they may have such as side effects. I believe we should not stop taking aspirin just because there is a risk of an undesirable effect. For all the risks and imperfections medicines have, we take them because they are the best we have. The topic of this lecture (the idea of weighing costs and benefits of medicines) reminded me of an experience I had a couple of years ago.
Represents weighing costs and benefits
Hospital room
At the end of 9th grade, I was in the hospital for a week because I had all the symptoms of viral meningitis. Luckily, it ended up not being it, but it was another severe virus that caused me a lot of pain and aching. My back and neck hurt so badly I could not move. I had a migraine for over a week. I could barely keep my eyes open. While the doctors and nurses gave me medicine that helped a little to alleviate the pain, the medicine had some not so great side effects. I figured it was better to deal with the possibility of side effects than not take any medicine at all.
Hopefully in the future someone will invent medicine that has no negative aspects. But for now, we will just have to value the benefits and deal with the costs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin
http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/439/main.html#SymptomsofViralMeningitis
http://www.ehow.com/how_2066879_check-side-effects-medicine.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a681004.html