Not long ago, I read a report on drug safety for children published by the Global Organization for Child Safety, June 2014. Some of the data in the report are amazing.
1. 86.4% of the children were poisoned at home.
2. Among the causes of poisoning among children, the proportion of drug poisoning has increased year by year, from 53% in 2012 to 64% in 2013.
3. In 2013, Beijing Children’s Hospital collected 369 cases of children taking drugs by mistake.
4. Among the causes of drug poisoning in children, there are mainly children taking it by mistake, adults taking it by mistake, and adults taking excessive doses. The following figure:
5. 69% of parents usually put the medicine where their children can get it.
6. 37% of parents used ordinary spoons to measure the dose.
7. 79% of the parents went home to take the medicine directly to their children after they had finished dispensing it in the hospital without reading the drug instructions.
8. 99% of children can open ordinary medicine bottles within 2 seconds.
The above is only a part of the data, but it makes people tremble with fear. Parents, are the children really your own? You also pay too little attention to the safety of children’s medication.
To see if you are a qualified parent, you might as well do the following tests:
1. Give your child adult medicine at will, believing that it is enough to halve the simple dosage.
2. Don’t read the drug instructions carefully, even never read them;
3. Give children drugs based on experience, believe in the online list of what family drugs, and believe in Haitao magic drugs;
4. Increase/decrease the dosage at will, do not pay attention to the number of times of taking the medicine, and feel that taking the medicine is only about the same.
5. When seeing the child’s symptoms improve, stop taking the drug for the child.
6. [Tonic] Eat more and believe in various drugs to prevent diseases and strengthen the body.
7. Hold your nose and inject medicine into your child;
8. Feel that the Chinese patent medicine has no toxic or side effects and use the Chinese patent medicine at will;
9. Put the medicine at home at will and take it yourself without avoiding the children.
10. As soon as the child gets sick, he wants the doctor to give him infusion.
For the above 10 items, parents can compare their usual practices. The more items they are shot, the less qualified your parents are, and the more dangerous your children will be.
Children need to be very careful in taking drugs, not [almost] [at will].
First of all, children are in the stage of continuous growth and development. Individual differences, gender differences and age differences are especially large. No matter the evaluation of health status or the clinical diagnosis of diseases, they cannot be measured by a single standard. This also means that parents cannot use experience, online/friends sharing and hearsay to diagnose and use drugs for their children.
In addition, children’s physique and organ development are different from adults.
Children’s metabolism is fast, and drug absorption and metabolism are generally faster than adults, so adult drugs cannot be used for children at will. This cannot be solved by breaking the drugs into two halves. For example, some slow-release capsules, if you break them into two pieces, will lead to the instant release of drugs, seriously endangering life.
Children’s digestive system, blood system and liver and kidney system are not perfect, so improper medication is easy to cause side effects and poisoning. Children’s medication needs to consider the impact on the nervous system, especially sensitive to drugs transformed in the liver and excreted by the kidney. Most of the Chinese patent medicines have hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, so there is no toxic or side effect if they are not Chinese patent medicines. Some drugs are metabolized in the liver, and these drugs should be carefully dosed and cannot be taken in excess.
Some parents worry that their children will not grow tall, It doesn’t grow fast, For a long time, a large amount of [cod liver oil], [calcium tablets], [vitamins] and other [tonic drugs] are given to children. For children’s growth and development, the most important thing is balanced nutrition, exercise and adequate sleep. Excessive use of these [tonic drugs] may lead to drug poisoning, not to mention the health products you bought in false advertisements, which are harmful to children but not beneficial.
Holding your nose to inject medicine may make the liquid medicine choke into your trachea, which is also a very dangerous thing.
If you don’t avoid your child when taking your medicine, you put the medicine where your child can get it. The child’s curiosity is very strong, and it is very likely that you secretly took the pills of adults, which will eventually lead to poisoning.
What should a correct and qualified parent do? Let’s also list ten items, hoping parents can study hard.
1. Learn to consult a doctor.
How to take the medicine, how much to take, how long to take, and the order of taking the medicine … all should ask the doctor clearly, and the child’s symptoms and medical history should also be expressed clearly as far as possible.
2. Learn to read the drug instructions.
The instructions have clear instructions on dosage and risks, especially for some parts with children’s medication, which should be carefully examined. If the doctor’s advice is inconsistent with the instructions, confirm with the doctor.
3. Priority should be given to special drugs for children.
At present, there is still a shortage of special drugs for children in our country. This is not to suggest that everyone buy them from sea, but to choose children’s drugs as far as possible within the range of choices.
4. Accurate dosage.
Every time you use drugs, try to be accurate, especially for drugs that need to be broken or liquid. It is recommended to prepare professional measuring tools.
5. Keep drugs properly.
The medicine bottle should be tightened and placed in a place where children are not easy to get, the expired medicine should be thrown away, and the medicine should not be taken in children’s face as much as possible.
6. Don’t blindly believe in other people’s medication experience.
Other people’s may not be suitable for you, but it may also be the marketing number to cheat you.
7. Apart from vaccines, there are currently no drugs that can prevent diseases.
8. Chinese patent medicines also have side effects. Of course, Western medicines also have side effects. Therefore, drugs should not be eaten indiscriminately or in excess.
9. Pay more attention to children.
If the child suffers from lethargy, vomiting, or peculiar smell in his mouth, it is necessary to consider whether the child has taken the medicine by mistake. Do not give the child water or induce vomiting casually, and take the medicine that may have been taken by mistake.
10. Help children set up correct medication views.
You can’t take care of your children for a lifetime. It is the key to tell them how to take medicine correctly and safely. Correct awareness of taking medicine will benefit children for life.
If you think it is not bad, please share it with those in need, because too many parents do not have the awareness of correct medication.