Children aren’t just small adults. It is especially important to remember this when giving medicines to children. Giving a child the wrong dose or a medicine that is not for children can have serious side effects.
The drug labels for prescription medicines have a section on “Pediatric Use.” It says whether the medicine has been studied
What is HIV/AIDS?
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying CD4 cells. These are a type of white blood cells that fight infection. The loss of these cells makes it hard for your body to fight off infections and certain HIV-related cancers.
Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system
What are PrEP and PEP?
PrEP and PEP are medicines to prevent HIV. Each type is used in a different situation:
PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It is for people who don’t already have HIV but are at very high risk of getting it. PrEP is daily medicine that can reduce this risk. With PrEP, if you
Before any drug can be sold in the United States, it must be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is true whether it’s a prescription or an over-the-counter drug. The FDA evaluates both the effectiveness and safety of a drug by looking at:
How animal testing and human clinical trials affect
What is cancer chemotherapy?
Cancer chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment. It uses medicines to destroy cancer cells.
Normally, the cells in your body grow and die in a controlled way. Cancer cells keep growing without control. Chemotherapy works by killing the cancer cells, stopping them from spreading, or slowing their growth.
Chemotherapy is
What is high blood pressure?
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when blood puts too much pressure against the walls of your arteries. About 1 in 3 adults have high blood pressure, usually with no symptoms. But it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and kidney disease.
What lifestyle changes can
What are blood thinners?
Blood thinners are medicines that prevent blood clots from forming. They do not break up clots that you already have. But they can stop those clots from getting bigger. It’s important to treat blood clots, because clots in your blood vessels and heart can cause heart attacks, strokes, and blockages.
Who needs
Antibiotics are medicines that fight bacterial infections. Used properly, they can save lives. But there is a growing problem of antibiotic resistance. It happens when bacteria change and resist the effects of an antibiotic. Resistant bacteria may continue to grow and multiply.
Each time you take antibiotics there is a risk that the bacteria will
What are antibiotics?
Antibiotics are medicines that fight bacterial infections in people and animals. They work by killing the bacteria or by making it hard for the bacteria to grow and multiply.
Antibiotics can be taken in different ways:
Orally (by mouth). This could be pills, capsules, or liquids.
Topically. This might be a cream, spray, or ointment that
What are antidepressants?
Antidepressants are prescription medicines to treat depression. Depression is more than feeling a little sad or “blue” for a few days. It’s a very common, serious medical illness that affects your mood and general mental health It can make you feel tired, hopeless, worried, or fearful. It can change your thinking, sleeping, and