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= Side effects of commonly prescribed drugs =

Commonly prescribed drugs are drugs that are used for medical purposes usually prescribed by doctors or specialists to treat, cure, or prevent common sicknesses like colds and flu, bacterial infections, headaches, stomach aches, allergies, and fevers. The drugs for these kinds of sicknesses are classified under drug classes such as Analgesics, Antibiotics, Anti-inflammatory, and Antipyretics. They are not very detrimental but since people have little awareness of their side effects, it leads to wrong usage and consumption of these drugs which can eventually cause health issues such as anxiety, nausea, addiction, kidney or liver damage and even more. A side effect is an unwanted symptom triggered by medical therapy. All medications, including prescriptions, over-the-counter and supplementary drugs, can trigger side effects that can have effects on the short and the long term. These effects may be psychological and physical and may include dependency. Side effects may result from interactions with other medicines or foods, a medicine that kills one sort of unwanted cell but also kills good cells, a dose that may need to be adjusted, individual reaction to a medication ingredient, How often and  how long you used the drug, the type and strength of the medicines you are using, Your health, and medicines that do not work well. These side effects differ from a person to another based on a few personal factors like gender, age, personal health conditions, mood, environment and genetics.



Types of drugs and their side effects
A drug class is a term that describes medications categorized together due to their similarity. Drugs can be classified in a variety of ways. In the medical and pharmacological universe, a drug can be categorized either by its chemical function, chemical structureor by the condition it treats. Some medications may be categorized under one scheme, but not another, based on these varied classification techniques In other cases, a medication may have various uses or actions (such as the drug Finasteride which is used to cure extended breast hair and regrow hair) and may be included within multiple drug classes within a single classification system.

Analgesics
Analgesics (an-al-gee-sics), also known as pain-killers, are medicines developed to reduce pain symptoms. There are several types of analgesics including Non-opioid painkillers

and NSAIDs like Paracetamol, aspirin, and ibuprofen, Compound painkillers like Co-codamol, co-codaprin, and co-dydramoland Opioid painkillers like Codeine, tramadol, and morphine. Analgesic combinations may be taken to relieve pain that arises from a wide range of conditions, such as migraines, menstruation, infection, strains, surgery and more. Analgesic combinations vary in their components, which implies that there are huge differences in how they operate, their potency (how powerful they are), and how they are absorbed, dispersed, metabolized, and excreted within the body. Non-opioid painkillersand NSAIDs are used to treat moderate pain including headaches, wounds, or osteoarthritis, Compound painkillers can also be used for moderate pain and Opioid painkillers treat Moderate to serious pain caused by many factors like injury, osteoarthritis, surgery, or arthritis rheumatoid. Opioids may also be given for severe pain with NSAIDs. Most analgesics are regarded as safe when given for short periods of time and as guided by a practitioner or packaging. Narcotic analgesic combinations have many side effects like drowsiness, sleepiness or dizziness are prevalent in most combinations of narcotic analgesics. NSAIDs analgesic combination can also cause side effects Especially when used for long periods of time at doses higher than recommended. Side effects might include bloating, diarrhea, constipation, irritation of the lining of the stomach, nausea or vomiting. Combination products containing NSAID s can also affect the functioning of the kidneys and reduce how fast blood flows through the kidneys.

Most common types of Non-opioid painkillers and their side effects:



 * Paracetamol

Although some users develop a rash, side effects of paracetamol are rare. However, if taken at high doses paracetamol can damage your liver and this might be the reason that the amount you buy is limited. If you have kidney problems, paracetamol should be used at lower doses than usual, and if you have liver problems, it should also be used carefully.


 * Aspirin

When taking aspirin, users must be careful as individual factors may increase the risk of having side effects. These include people have asthma, have severe liver or kidney problems, over 65 years of age, have high blood pressure, if pregnant or breastfeeding, have stomach ulcers, have a bleeding disorder like haemophilia and if taking other medication at the same time. When taken at high doses it may even cause stomach problems. Children under 16 years of age cannot use Aspirin.


 * Ibuprofen

Ibuprofen (eye-boo-pro-fen), is generallyused to help with inflammation and pain. It can  be dangerous and shouldn’t be used when you have a stomach ulcer, pregnant, have a reaction to Aspirin or NSAIDs, have severe heart failure, and liver disease unless prescribed by a doctor. Ibuprofen is safe to use but should be used cautiously if the consumer is breastfeeding, had a stroke, over 65 years of age, have kidney or liver problems, have high a blood pressure, had bleeding in the stomach, have peripheral arterial or Crohn’s disease, and heart problems.

Antibiotics
Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. There are two primary methods of antibiotics attacking bacteria. There are different types of an antibiotic such as penicillin, ampicillin, and amoxicillin. They either stop bacteria from reproducing or destroy the bacteria. When antibiotics are used correctly, they are usually harmless with few side effects. Like most medicines, however, antibiotics can contribute to side effects ranging from a nuisance to severe or life-threatening. One of the main problems that lead to side effects is over the use of antibiotics. They also think that this excessive use contributes to the increasing amount of bacterial infections that become resistant to antibacterial drugs. The presence of bacteria resistant to antibiotics increases the risk of life-threatening diseases that do not respond to antibiotics. When it comes to antibiotics side effects vary widely depending on its class. Common side effects can be like diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, rash and upset stomach. Sometimes serious side effects occur depending on when it comes to strong antibiotics like sulphonamides which can cause kidney stone formation, tetracyclines causes sensitivity to sunlight, cephalosporins cause abnormal blood clotting, trimethoprim causes blood disorder and deafness can occur when taking erythromycin and the aminoglycosides. Some individuals, particularly the elders, may develop swelling of the bowel, which can lead to serious, bloody diarrhea. Some people can be allergic to antibiotics, and when they use them symptoms like itching, fainting, swelling of the lips face or tongue, shortness of breath, hives, and rash start to appear.

Anti-inflammatory
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) are the most popularly used medicines in inflammatory illnesses as they are effective in managing pain, fever, and redness caused by inflammatory mediator release. Some side effects of anti-inflammatory medications are mild like heartburn, stomach ache, headaches and dizziness, stomach ulcers, ringing in the ears, and drowsiness. However, can be serious and might form a in the stomach or intestine wall. Liver or kidney problems and high blood pressure will go away on their own or after reducing the dose. However, when taken in high doses it can Increase your danger of heart attack or stroke. They can also cause bleeding in the stomach[7]. There are some factors that can increase the risk of side effects including being pregnant or breastfeeding, have asthma, over 65 years of age, had stomach ulcers, are a smoker, and have any heart, liver, blood pressure, kidney, bowels or circulation problems.

Antipyretics
Antipyretics is a fever-reducing drug. It contains substances that cause the hypothalamus to disallow a prostaglandin-induced to increase temperature, the body slowly starts to lower the body’s temperature which causes a reduction in fever. These medicines are safe for most patients when used properly and usually cause few side effects. However, when taken in high doses or consumed incorrectly without a doctor’s prescription may cause few side effects like Drowsiness, Constipation, Dizziness or light-headedness, Nausea and vomiting, and ringing in the ears.

Acetaminophen
It is used to treat mild to moderate pain and fever. It is less likely to cause stomach irritation than other fever-reducing drugs such as aspirin but is correlated with other possible side effects such as skin rash or hives, difficulty breathing, and liver damage.

Salicylate Espirenido (Aspirin)
Salicylate helps reduce blood clotting. Aspirin can be a strong and effective medicine but can be dangerous if used in children. Reye's syndrome has been correlated with the use of aspirin in children, a rare but highly severe disease that affects all the body's organs and can be fatal. In children who take aspirin when having a viral infection, such as flu, side effects are more likely. They are also more vulnerable to side effects like intestinal bleeding and upset in stomach, than adults.

Individual factors increasing risk
There are some factors that increase your risk of side effects. These factors differ from a person to another based on a lot of things like age, gender, genetics, health conditions and more. Even the way that you deal with each side effect is different from everybody else. When it comes to age, often the very young and the very old are more prone to unwanted reactions. Children are not like adults. In children, the manner in which their bodies accumulate metabolizing and eliminating medicines is different from adolescents. Younger children tend to absorb medicine from the stomach more slowly but have faster intramuscular (IM) absorption rates. Older people usually take more medications and surveys have shown that due to a negative medication reaction they are twice as likely to go to ED and seven times more likely to be hospitalized. There is a narrow line between the drug being effective or toxic when taking medication. As they grow up liver metabolism and kidney excretion typically start to decrease. Their bodies also appear to have more fat and less water that can increase the effect duration of certain drugs. When it comes to gender Females have reduced hepatic enzyme activity, greater body fat-to-water proportion, and reduced kidney clearance of medication than males. In women, the prevalence of liver poisoning, gastrointestinal side impacts, allergic skin responses are greater.