Dangers Of Prescribing Second Line Therapy Without First Line

Stages of treatment

Treatment of disease rely on pharmacology and non-pharmacology approach. Pharmacology approach involve the use of drugs. On the other hand, non-pharmacology method involve life style modification. Truth be told, more than 90% of hospital visitation requires medications with some including both.
When drugs is necessary, the prescriber puts into consideration so many factors. The disease, the severity, the best available drugs, duration and dose which affect adherence, dosage form, the financial strength of the patient all come into play in making decisions amidst others.
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There is a standard prescribing guide that is not even among the list above. Many diseases respond to drugs differently. Some drugs are more effective in treating a particular condition than another of which the other may be better for another condition the former may not be very effective against. The indiscriminate use of certain medications lead to the development of resistant strains of certain microbes. It also affected some conditions not even caused by microbes as the body got use to the drugs.
To avoid the above problem for the future generations, a guide was formulated for most common diseases. Drugs necessary in treating diseases where spelt out. When and how to use them as well as duration. This is known as the stages of therapy.

Stages Of Therapy

When a disease is still at the early stages of development, the drugs needed to treat it may not be the same with when it is at an advance level. It is good to use a minor drug at the early stage. This help to prevent the development of resistant strains. Using a strong drug at an early stage may work but can be dangerous if the treatment fails. The reason is that it will be very difficult for the minor drug to treat it at that stage and that can fail. In such cases, the cure may not be at hand.

First Line Therapy (Induction, Primary Therapy Or Treatment)

First line therapy is defined as the first treatment given to a patient for a disease. It consists of surgery and or drugs. They are generally accepted as the best treatment for the condition. A change is necessary if the drug cause some severe side effect or did not cure the disease.
Most first line therapy drugs can be found at retail or community pharmacy shop. In fact , they are the major prescriber's of first line therapy drugs.

Second Line Therapy

Second line therapy is initiated if the first line therapy did not cure the disease or cause some severe side effect. They are alternative when first line therapy fails. Most cases, they are more expensive. When they also fails, a switch to a higher line therapy is initiated.
Also, many second line therapy for many condition can be found in the the retail or community pharmacy shop.
All the line therapy drugs can be found in the hospital. But the highest line in major condition can only be found in the hospital because they require a prescription. When a retail or community pharmacy store them, they must be dispensed with a valid prescription.
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Knowing the first line therapy for each condition is vital. A drug that is first line therapy for one condition can be last line drug for another. Ciprofloxacin is a third line therapy for tuberculosis treatment. HiwHowe, it is one of the first line therapy for other conditions.

Dangers Of Using Wrong Line Therapy

Some years ago, the news of the death of a politicians wife filled the air. Rumours have it that she was hospitalized with a minor ailment. The medical doctor in charge have given her a very potent drug. Unfortunately, the drug failed. Her condition kept on deteriorating. Using other drugs that are considered first and second line therapy failed. She could not make it.
Even at that, the major reason for the introduction of line therapy is to combat resistance. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics lead to the proliferation of resistant strains of some microorganisms. When very few persons have access to some very good drugs, the risk of resistance strains to all the available drugs is reduce
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