Tricity people prefer self medication; Expert

Chandigarh, July 25, 2014: On the eve of World Hepatitis Day and to generate awareness, Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH), Mohali organised a free Hepatitis screening camp today. As many as 100 people attended the camp and got themselves screened for Hepatitis B & C. The Free Fibroscan tests were also conducted at the camp on the recommendation of the doctors.

Speaking during the occasion, Dr Nikhil Nandkarni, Sr Consultant, Gastroenterology, MSSH, Mohali said that tricity people have tendency to go to a chemist for medication rather than to a specialist whenever they were down with a minor infection or fever. They unnecessarily gulped in pain-killers and medicines without giving a thought about what harm they could do to our livers.

“This was especially true for middle-aged people who would take pain-killers without consulting any expert. As a result, they would become more prone to drug induced liver injury (DILI) which was also known as drug induced Hepatitis (DIH). It was an extreme sign of liver cell damage and destruction, which commonly occurred due to over-intake of vitamins, herbal medicines or food supplements, asserted Dr Nandkarni .

One should watch out for symptoms like fever, rashes or itchy red hives on skin, joint pain, sore muscles, flu-like symptoms, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, sore muscles, dark urine,  pale or clay-coloured stools and jaundice, maintained Dr Nadkarni.

Dr Gaurav Diddi, Consultant , Gastroenterology, MSSH informed that DILI was also the most frequently cited reason for withdrawal of medications from the marketplace. Women were more susceptible to DILI than men. said Dr Diddi.

Sandeep Dogra, VP-Operations, MSSH, Mohali said that DILI was growing at a rapid rate, even in youngsters addicted to drugs. In our daily OPD, we got 15 to 20 patients from the tricity every month. This was the reason we planned to conduct this camp to raise awareness, he added.

Drugs causing DILI are as under:

• Pain-killers (Ibuprofen, Piroxicam, Diclofenac),

• Anti-pyretics (paracetamol),

• Anti-TB drugs (Isonazid, Rifampicin),

• Hypo-lipidemic drugs (atorvastatin),

• Anti-thyroid drugs (propylthiouracil),

• Anti-seizure durgs (phenytoin, valproate, carbamazepine),

 • Antibiotics (amoxicillin, septran, Augmentin),

 • Anti-fungals (fluconazole) and some herbal medicines.