Difference Between Side, Adverse And Toxic Effects Of Medicine

Negative effect of drug

Pharmaceutical medicine is a drug that is used to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent a disease. These medicines affect the body in one way or the other. These effects are called side, adverse and toxic effects. These effects arise as a result of what the body does to the drug and what the drug does to the body.
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The same drug can be given through different route. This can also affect the level of negative effect on the body. A drug through the oral route may have a different level of negative effect compared to a drug through intravenous.

Most drug information leaflet give some list of negative effects about their products. However, some companies always claim some products does not have any. Most of the companies making such claims are those who produce herbal supplements. This can be true considering the fact that we select food that we eat devoid of negative effects. Negative effect or not, we should all know the different types and what to do when they happen when taking drug.

Side Effects

Side effect is an unwanted effect that may occur when a medicine is administered irrespective of the dose. It is always well studied and documented during clinical analysis of the drug. The benefit vs risk is access before the drug hit the market. The patient is always told what to expect and what to do if it arise or become unbearable.

Side effect stop immediately or some time after stopping the drug. Some side effects reduce or stop after reducing the dose or frequency. Others may even stop after taking the drug for some time without doing anything about it while still on the drug. Switching to another drug or using a combination therapy rather than individual drugs sometimes resolve side effects.

Some side effects have been borrowed as therapeutic effects in some cases. For example, diphenhydramine is a medicine use in cough syrup. One of its side effects is drowsiness. Users are advised to stay away from driving or anything that requires alertness. Yet, this side effects is used to treat insomnia.

Factors that can help to predict side effects include age, gender, allergies, concurrent administration of other drugs like vitamins.

Adverse Effects

Adverse effects does not occur often at normal dose and frequency. They are dangerous and may not be reversible on withdrawal of the drug or require medical intervention.

They are unwanted effect that are classified as a type A or B. Type A adverse effects can be predictable due to dosage. The effect can be reduced with reduced dose. They occur very often. Type B is unpredictable and have nothing to do with the dose. Type B occur less often and is influenced by patient specific susceptibility factors such as allergies and intolerance.
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Patients are always advised to stop immediately they notice the sign of adverse effects. This is because it may be irreversible and the earlier the better.

Toxic Effects

In the context of pharmacology, drug toxicity is the harmful effect of a drug that have accumulated in the body over some time. This occurs when the dose is too high or the body's inability to clear the drug from the body by the kidney and liver. The excess drug may be stored in an organ or in circulation. This rarely occur and more common in adults with less kidney and liver function.

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