Medicine

Definition:
- chemicals/drugs used to help with the treatment or prevention of diseases
- classified into traditional medicine and modern medicine
- safe if taken properly but misuse or abuse can be harmful

Traditional medicine
- Comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations
within the folk beliefs of various societies before the era of modern medicine
- Obtained from plants/animals and aren’t chemically processed
- Usually prepared by crushing certain parts of plants using pestle and mortar and rubbing
on sore limbs
- Certain plants/animals are boiled to be consumed
- Have evolved through processing and marketed in the form of capsules/pills

Examples:
Modern medicine
- Usually contains a mixture of active ingredients prepared in different forms such as
capsules, pills, solution and suspensions.

Types of modern medicine

1. Analgesics: Medicine that relieves pain without causing numbness or affecting
consciousness.

2. Antimicrobials:
- Prevents the growth of infected microorganisms.
- Will not cure the infection caused by viruses such as cold and flu.
- Obtained from bacteria/fungi.

3. Psychotic drugs: Treats psychosis

4. Anti allergies: Used to prevent an allergic response

 5. Corticosteroids: used to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system

Effectiveness and Abuse/Misuse of Medicine

- Both modern and traditional medicines can treat many of the same illnesses and
symptoms. Efficacy level may differ.
- Modern medicine has undergone clinical trials before they are sold/prescribed to the
public, traditional medicine does not have data to authenticate their effectiveness.
- Wrong dosage can lead to undesirable effects and drug abuse, this concerns both
modern and traditional medicine. Eg: Resistance to antibiotics, liver and kidney failure
from herbal based medicine and addiction
- Traditional Medicine and Complementary Act 2016 was introduced to ensure traditional
medicine administered meet the criteria set by the government
- The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) is responsible for the
supervision of drug safety and quality control in Malaysia

Questions:
1. Why should patients complete the antibiotics prescribed by the doctor in a certain
time-frame?
Answer: It's because taking them regularly until the prescription is complete helps
ensure that all of the illness-causing bacteria are killed or prevented from multiplying.

2. Is traditional and modern medicine considered as drugs?

Answer: Yes. Any natural or artificial made medicine to cure a disease specifically is
known as drugs.
3. Amelia suffers from schizophrenia. She seeked medical attention from a psychiatrist and
was prescribed an antipsychotic drug known as chlorpromazine. After some time,due to
the adverse addiction to the drug, Amelia fell into a chronic movement disorder known as
parkinsonism.
Based on the situation above, suggest alternatives to cure Amelia’s disorder.
Answer:
- consumption of omega-3 fatty acids and glutamate or gingko biloba
- opt to TCM or Ayurveda treatment such as acupuncture and consumption of herbal
compounds such as Aegle marmelos[ highly reputed ayurvedic medicinal tree and has
been used in nervous disorder and as tonic for brain.]
-lifestyle change – exercising, meditation or attend reprogramming programmes specially
designed for patients with such disorders.