Medicine misuse

The way the Maltese take medicines such as aspirin and ibuprofen is documented in a book by a pharmacist and teacher.

The Use of NSAIDs and Patient Safety features the study carried out by Maria Dolores Baldacchino for her Masters dissertation about the use of nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in Malta.

These medicines are used mainly for their analgesic (pain killing) and anti-inflammatory properties. Examples of such medication include aspirin, ibuprofen and diclofenac.

The study revealed that this medicine is used for its proper indications by the Maltese. However, in general it is being over-used, often with complete disregard to proper administration, cautions, contraindications and drug interactions.

If not used properly, these medicines may cause serious side-effects, such as gastrointestinal bleeds, heart failure and stroke.

NSAIDs also react with many other medicines. Different NSAIDs have different side-effects, which may be vie wed in the patient information leaflets.

Patients should administer NSAIDs under the supervision of a doctor. They may also refer to pharmacists for information regarding this medication.

This book also tries to answer questions such as which NSAID should be prescribed to patients taking into consideration gastrointestinal and cardiovascular risk factors.

Baldacchino completed a Masters degree in pharmacy specialising in clinical pharmacy. She is the managing pharmacist in a community pharmacy and a teacher practitioner at the University’s Department of Pharmacy.

The Use of NSAIDs and Patient Safety is published by Lambert Academic Publishing.