New diseases and illnesses have cropped up in the last few years and the medical community is scrambling to find cures. While technology has sought to make life more convenient, the trade-off is that people are constantly reachable, with demands being heaped on everybody by everyone else. Perhaps due to the stress of the workplace, more people are being afflicted with stress-related diseases, sometimes with dire consequences. Is there a cure in sight?
The answer is yes. Modern technological breakthroughs are coming to terms in finding and giving solutions to medical conditions. Compounding medication is now a common practice in most pharmacies, where medication is specifically tailor-made according to the needs of the individual patient.
Compounding medication in pharmacies
There’s a resurgence in the practice of compounding, as physicians have seen the need to tailor-fit a medication for each patient in many cases. Every patient has specific needs that are unique, and to achieve a successful treatment, patients are prescribed compounded medication. This has been proven effective, as it did prior to the 1960s when compounding was the way to go for prescribed medication.
Today, compounding prescription medications are being used to address the needs of dentists and veterinarians as well, for their patients.
What medications are compounded?
The onset of manufactured medicine has revolutionized medicine production, but this did not automatically mean that it cured every one afflicted with sickness. The answer was to go back to compounding medicine, and it is now practiced practically everywhere, so if you are in Stoney Creek in Ontario and you ran out of your medication, all you need to do is look for a compounding pharmacy near you.
Compounded medicate are:
Not commercially available. Not all medications are produced commercially, simply because the demand for some medications is not sufficient for a giant pharmaceutical company to produce on a commercial scale. This is where the compounding pharmacy comes in by producing a medication that uses limited chemical agents, in prescribed dosage, strengths, and even flavor and packaging. Packaging means that in the event a patient is unable to swallow a huge capsule or tablet, the compounding pharmacy would be able to compound it into liquid form.
Unstable. Some chemical elements, when combined, may lose stability over long periods; hence, the need to produce it in smaller quantities. This ensures that the medication remains stable and effective for the patient.
Some patients may be allergic to a dye in a commercially available medicine, which is why it is replaced by another agent. In the case of pediatric patients, some medications may be too bitter, and they end up vomiting it back out. Altering the bitterness-causing element would ensure proper intake of the medicine. The challenge now is how to ensure efficient medication intake in the patient.
Proper intake of medication
For a treatment to be effective, medication is recommended to be taken regularly. This ensures that there’s a sufficient amount of drug circulating in the body at all times. Failure to do this means there won’t be enough drug in the blood that the virus or bacteria it is trying to fight will not be eradicated, but instead could lead to it mutating into a drug-resistant strain.
Be aware of the following:
Proper timing/intervals. Your physician has prescribed you the medication you need. Then the compounding pharmacy would have taken care of the dosage of your medication. The next step is up to you as the patient. If your prescription calls for intake three times a day, schedule it in such a way that it would fit into your regular waking hours. Most patients miss a dosage because they scheduled one intake at 2 in the morning.
Take complete doses every day. Sometimes, it’s easy to miss a dose because of your busy schedule. But if you miss one, take that dose as soon as you remember it.
Modern medicine is keeping up with modern-day diseases, and it is proving effective. With compounding pharmacies, their effectiveness is taken to new levels, as long as you take them properly.
