Without names companies cannot sell their products. Just as people are known by their names, brands also are named. Established brands make their company famous; people recognize companies by their famous brands. Brand names are most important attribute of a product after its quality and packing from end user’s point of view. The world recognizes brand names for their quality, efficacy and reliability. Pharma brands such Vicks, Iodex, Crocin, Corex, Lipitor, Gleevac are kept in the first aid box in almost all homes.

A brand is a name, design, logo or a symbol which allows us to differentiate one product from the other. We get used to a brand for the trust it imposes in our minds. We accumulate faith in a brand after using it for little time. Our each time experience matters. In case of pharma brands, the customers are the patients who buy medicines recommended by physicians. Naming a pharma brand, designing its logo and packaging is a challenging job. Do you know, a drug, in its lifetime gets renamed multiple times according to its life cycle. The first time it gets the drug company’s cryptic internal designation.

Though, name of a drug is a comparatively lesser complicated than its formulation and efficacy, much is at stake in getting drugs named correctly. The cause is because mistaken prescriptions are a big contributor to the overall tally of medical errors. Each drug has many substitutes in market and this can lead to mistaken identity. The process of naming medicines has been a slow movement: as drugs moved beyond their earliest spiritual and religious applications, it became clear that strictness was required, both in preparation and in cataloguing. Assembling pharmacopoeias, which list active ingredients and describe known drugs, eventually became the province of governments—first local, then national and by now a global co-ordinated transnational effort. So how, today, do drugs get their names?

A marketed drug by Pharma Company has three names: chemical name, generic name, and a brand name. The chemical name is decided on the basis of chemical structure of drug and is used primarily by researchers. A drug’s chemical name is longish and usually difficult to pronounce and remember by the common people – the consumers. Therefore, the consumers, physicians, and pharmacists for the sake of making it easier for selling refer the drug’s generic name. The chemical name is generally not used in practice, unless it becomes the established or used name such as sodium chloride. Chemical names are not given in any of the standard manuals, such as the Physicians’ Desk Reference, official books like United States Pharmacopeia (USP), or available software.

The U.S. Adopted Names Council (USAN) has some rules, such as: “Prefixes that imply ‘better,’ ‘newer,’ or ‘more effective;’ prefixes that suggest the name of the sponsor, dosage type; duration of action or rate of drug release should not be used. Prefixes that refer to an anatomical connotation or medical condition are not acceptable. Certain letters or sets of letters also aren’t allowed at the beginning of new generic names. These include me, str, x, and z.

Every name has two main parts. The back half of the drug name is the same for all drugs in a particular class — for instance; there are whole rafts of cholesterol-lowering drugs that end in -vastatin: atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), simvastatin (Zocor), and several others. Some other class suffixes include: oxetine for a class of antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sartan for a class of blood-pressure-lowering drugs, such as losartan (Cozaar), afil for a class of drugs used for erectile dysfunction, such as sildenafil (Viagra), lukast for a class of anti-asthma drugs, such as montelukast (Singulair).

Do you know Viagra is named to suggest Vitality and Agriculture – which tells you nothing about what it is made from – just where it came from – it was originally an animal research drug? Its competitor ‘Cialis’ is actually a French family name in French Canada. Apparently this was overlooked and an accidental slipup. The family is rather upset as the drug is used for male potency is trademarked after their name.

A persuading and powerful brand name delivers immediate, direct benefits in terms of sales and consumer loyalty, as well as indirect competitive advantages when raising capital or offering shares of stock to the public. Farxiga, Hetlioz, Otezla are pharma brand names that sound so weird. They are lately approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Drug names have been getting weirder because as the FDA approves new medicines at record rates and the regulations require a certain degree of differentiation from other drugs and recognizable words be it in any language. The more drugs that come out every year from pharma companies, the more innovative the names need to be. It is difficult to get simple, uncomplicated names.

Another major reason for taking the necessary steps to select the best available brand name is to protect the owner’s already sizable investment of time, money, and resources in developing the drug. Maintaining security has become a major element in the naming of a new proprietary drug because consumers get perplexed over drug’s brand names which can have deadly consequences. A pharmaceutical brand is different from other brands in the sense that the former has a generic name too besides a name given by proprietor of that product. If the company launches a new drug molecule in market with a convincing, impressive and perpetual name which can be recalled easily by the doctors and patients. The name should have a good recall values. Corex, Steptsils, Gelusil are remembered easily because of their uncompromised quality.

Penicillin is a word coined by Alexander Fleming who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology/ Medicine for his work on Penicillin. The name is derived from the fungus Penicillium notatum whose important antibacterial properties were noticed by Fleming. The name of the fungus comes from its shape which resembles a paintbrush which in Latin is penicillus. Similarly, Morphine was discovered by a German pharmacist and is of Latin roots. The name comes from the drug’s sleep inducing properties as the God of dreams called Morpheus by the Roman poet Ovid.

Aspirin which is one of the most common drugs in the world, few users of this useful medicine would know where the word comes from. Salicyclic acid was called spirsäure in German in the 19thcentury; this word comes from Spiraea a plant from which salicyclic acid was purified. The plant’s name comes from Greek word speira meaning coil or spire. Since the acid exists as acetylsalicylic acid, Felix Hoffmann who synthesised the drug while working for Bayer, an ‘A’ for acetyl was added to the front of the Germanic word for the acid and it was patented as Aspirin.

Drug’s official name is generic name throughout its lifetime world over regardless of who made it, how it was made, where it was devised. Generic name is commonly used by health care professionals and is usually created when a new drug is ready to be marketed. Although the manufacturer or sponsor of the drug has the exclusive right of manufacture during the 20 years of the drug’s patent, it never owns the generic name. The manufacturer or sponsor of the drug usually initiates the request for a generic name, but the generic name is always in the public domain and there is no need of using such letters as TM or ® or © with generic names.

Why do some branded drugs cost more than generics? It takes several years, costly scientific development and many clinical studies to get a drug approved. Manufacturers of new brand name drugs which are also called “pioneer drugs” usually take on the research and development costs for new medications, https://www.urgentway.com/online-pharmacy/. These research and development costs, along with marketing costs, account for most of the higher prices we pay for most brand name drugs. In contrast, generic drugs have less research and development costs since the original manufacturer has already done many studies to make sure the drug is safe. These savings are passed on to the consumer. However, while the brand name form is still protected by its patent, it cannot be produced as generic. And, if a brand name drug has only just recently lost its patent, there may only be one generic form available. Usually, when there’s only one generic option available, it will be more expensive.

Typically, new drugs end up with a monopoly for roughly a dozen years. Their makers generally increase their prices every year, by about 5% or more. Those increases add up and become bigger as the expiration of the patent approaches. For many drugs, there isn’t enough competition to hold down prices. Many older generic drugs are priced too low to be profitable, so some drug makers stopped making them. Usually when only one company or two companies make a drug, the price usually shoots up. For older, brand-names that treat conditions too rare to attract multiple manufacturers, the sole maker has a de facto monopoly. This is the reason why brand name matters in pharma business.

There are some people who love to fall ill; they are obsessed with their health. Even after a physician evaluates this health obsessed people doubt the physician’s reassurance that nothing is wrong with their health. They keep collecting information from books, journals, Internet, newspapers on a variety of ailments, and keep tallying their health conditions with those ailments. The online forums are making the matter worst and they are in hundreds and thousands in number and the number keeps rising. People chat on these forums regarding their ailments and symptoms, which encourage them, indulging in self-medication, and also end up arguing with doctors upon being told that their ailment is not even close to the serious diseases they had imagined. In fact a lot of physicians feel these forums are spoiling the medical scene and only giving rise to hypochondriacs.

Some common symptoms to find a hypochondriac are:

• He/she likes to visit many doctors; he/she enjoys doing doctor shopping.
• The person is terribly concerned about some part of body.
• The person keeps searching for a doctor who will agree that he/she is unwell.
• The person is always anxious, nervous or depressed.
• Distrust of medical exams.
• Strained social relationship.

Hypochondriacs are a bunch of complex people and they require multilevel treatment and therapy. It is termed as DSM III, the internationally recognized classification used by psychiatrists. It is defined as “an unrealistic interpretation of one’s bodily sensations as abnormal, leading to the fear and belief that one has a serious disease”. Hypochondriacs get unduly alarmed about most minor symptoms and they convince themselves that they have, or are about to be diagnosed with, a serious illness. For example, a hypochondriac person is sure that his or her headaches are caused by a brain tumor; or somebody with indigestions having burning sensation is sure that he has a heart ailment. The symptoms associated with hypochondrias are not under the person’s intended control. They cause great distress to their family members and friends.

You should watch a lovely comedy named ‘Send me no flowers’ a movie of 1964, starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Handsome Rock Hudson has played a lovable hypochondriac George Kimball in the movie.

Also, a 1979 Bollywood comedy ‘Meri Biwi ki Shaadi’ starring Amol Palekar and Rajita Kaur shows discouragingly timid hypochondriac Bhagwant (protagonist played by Amol Palekar) checking into the hospital for a checkup; he overhears his doctor discussing the diagnosis of another terminally ill patient with an associate. The hypochondriac Amol Palekar assumes he is the one scheduled to die, he overreacts so much that he asks his friend to help him find a new husband for his beautiful wife. I don’t know if it is a coincidence that the movie is a ditto copy of ‘Send me no flowers’ both stories are same.

It is very difficult to stay with hypochondriacs. In my opinion, things get even tougher for a person living with hypochondriac because most of the times they are misunderstood as attention seekers and crave for pity. Hypochondriacs are not well-understood by the rest of society. It is a mental illness, but because it is an invisible sickness, it can’t be diagnosed by tests or things that can actually prove a person has it. Only psychologists can counsel and diagnose a person with hypochondria. The fear of death is so deeply ingrained in a person suffering from this illness, that it becomes impossible for them to just tell themselves that each sign is their imagination and nothing serious. They get so overwhelmed of an impending doom, as though they are actually dying.

Do you know that Charles Darwin – the naturalist and Geologist who was fondly called ‘Charlie’ was a adorable neurotic hypochondriac who loved treatments like “water cures” for his perceived ailments, where he would take a cold bath and be wrapped in wet sheets? The famous scientist also kept meticulous records of his own flatulence. It seems Hitler who attempted to wipe out an entire race of people himself suffered from hypochondria. He was throughout his life worried with the state of his health. He was obsessed with his health so much though he was healthy physically. Mentally he was devilish and obsessive. The dictator was prescribed various medicines for all kinds of imagined ailments such as mood swings, Parkinson’s disease, gastro-intestinal issues and skin problems. Often he gave no real reasons at all behind wanting the medication.

It might sound shocking but it’s mentioned in few records that Florence Nightingale who was the reformer of modern nursing was herself a hypochondriac.

A recent survey revealed that doctors have been struggling to deal with patients who use the internet to find out what ails them. The doctors, including specialists and super specialists, say that people’s increasing dependence on the internet to find medical cures and search for symptoms is disturbingly increasing and this is causing strained doctor-patient relationship. People are overloaded with information which causes a lot of stress in them and they are in fact grossly misinformed. A woman in her 30s was convinced she was suffering from lung cancer. She had been coughing persistently, and obviously the internet search said it was the most basic symptom of lung cancer. She assumed the worst, but it turned out to be a very minor infection.

So friends, are you one of those who googles a small lump or a bump on body, slight change in urine color, headache, hair fall, dryness in throat or any small changes. Do you imagine suffering from an ailment only because you have read about it on the internet? Do you indulge in self-medication? Do you get anxious about your health often? Do you like visiting doctors every now and then? Do you keep cribbing about your health when you meet friends? If your answer is ‘yes’ then don’t let yourself be at the mercy of your fears because your work, personal relationships, and other aspects of your life will soon suffer. The effects of hypochondria on your life can be as bad as any serious illness out there. The illness you’re looking for may be in your mind rather than in your body. Deal with your condition head-on, simply confront your fears, and get rid of your hypochondria for good. Don’t hold back your emotions cause your deeper emotions manifest as fear of death; be active by going out often for movies, shopping etc, plan a vacation, visit some of your friends in other cities. And, most importantly believe your doctor because he/she still knows medicine better than you do. Your doctor’s expertise on this area is gained from long years of tough education and practice.

We all are used to multi-tasking in our lives. We have so many responsibilities in life that we forget to take care of ourselves. And while it’s hard to prioritize activities, we tend to forget giving our health its due priority.

On the other hand, sometimes self-help can become an obsession. One can be overly involved with self improvement. People spend a lot of money on vitamins, fluids, fruits, all sorts of ‘health foods and health drinks’. These individuals keep checking their weight, BP, blood sugar – they exhaust their energies on minute details regarding their health. When they are in this fury; they visit all sorts of Gurus, Babas, astrologers, EFT trainers, Yoga trainers, exercise regimens. This is where we all need to be careful, not to overdo it. When we get obsessed with self help, our imaginations run wild and one of such wildness can be illustrated as self medication.

Why sel-care without the advice of a physician should be avoided

The medical dictionary defines self-medication as medication of oneself especially without the advice of a physician. This is the practice whereby individuals treat their ailments and conditions with medicines which are approved and available without prescription. In developing countries, private pharmacies are the major drug dispensers and “pres­cription only” drugs are available for sale in official pharmacies. Modern medicines though of prime im­portance to mankind are potentially hazardous when administered indis­criminately in the form of “self medication”. Many universities and consulting firms have conducted researches in this area. The drug store plays a vital role in the entire supply chain of medicines.

How self-care is enhancing societies

Self-care is enhancing in the societies due to a number of factors. These factors include socioeconomic factors, lifestyle factors, ready access to drugs, the increased potential of people to manage their own illnesses through self-care, increased awareness about deceases and their treatment on internet and magazines, and greater availability of medicinal products.

In the midst of decisive economies, ever stressed pharma sectors in most parts of the world, increased emphasis on R&D and many new entrants in the pharma business governments, healthcare sectors and individuals worldwide are struggling with escalating health care costs. Many countries are establishing mechanisms whereby these costs can be controlled and health care made more cost-effective.

Worldwide, self-medication is being promoted as a means of reducing the health care burden on the public budget. Structural changes including increased reliance on private sector delivery are also increasingly being put in place.

How is the role of pharmacist is changing in the era of self-care?

The role of the pharmacist has been changing over the past two decades. The pharmacist is no longer just a supplier of medicines, but also a team member involved in the provision of health care whether in the hospital, the community pharmacy, the laboratory, the industry or in academic institutions. For the purposes of this definition, medicines include herbal and traditional products. Pharmaceutical care is growing in importance with the challenges of self-care. For pharmacists, their greater involvement in self-care means greater responsibility towards their customers and an increased need for accountability.

This is a common scene for all of us; patients narrate their symptoms to chemists who in turn give them medicines by deciding themselves what medicine the patient should take. This is very dangerous as wrongly administered medicines can cause serious complications. The pharmacist must initiate dialogue with the patient and the patient’s physician (when necessary) to obtain a sufficiently detailed medication history in order to address the condition of the patient appropriately before dispensing the medicines. The pharmacist must ask the patients key questions and pass on relevant information to him or her (e.g. how to take the medicines and how to deal with safety issues). For doing this, the pharmacist must be prepared and adequately equipped to perform a proper screening for specific conditions and diseases, without interfering with the prescriber’s authority, when the patient comes with a prescription. Though today’s customers have more information, the drugstores need to educate the patients on the threats of self-medication, and it’s the drugstore which can inform the customers that taking drugs without medical advice is perilous.

This might sound outlandish but the drug stores should be a little strict in their transactions with the customers. It may be convenient to simply pop a pill for common health complaints but ignoring the fine print on packaging could lead to problems worse than one can think. Some of the common drugs are Crocin, Combiflam, antibiotics like Amikacin, Gentamicin, Neomycin, Dcold or Benedryl, and the sleeping pills, https://buyzolpideminsomnia.com. Medicines such as Codine, Pereton and other cough syrups can cause dizziness, nervousness or sleeping problems. They are not ideal if someone  has high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid or heart disease. Oral contraceptives are an emergency measure; if they are used on a regular basis, they can cause hormonal imbalance and disrupt the menstrual cycle. Some medicines can also react with food and if taken improperly, hamper its absorption.  Don’t take medicine with alcohol; don’t take a higher or lower dose of the medicine than the label tells you to, or more frequently than suggested. Are you aware of your allergies? Don’t forget to keep track of your allergies, avoid medicines that have the same ingredients of your allergies. Discuss with your family members before you instantiate any self medication, keep them informed in case of any emergencies they must be prepared.

What are the concerns regarding self-care?

The other growing concern is medication adherence. It refers to whether patients take their medications as prescribed (eg, once daily, twice daily), as well as whether they continue to take a prescribed medication. Medication non-adherence is becoming alarming to clinicians, healthcare systems, and other stakeholders. Because of mounting evidence that it is prevalent and associated with adverse outcomes and higher costs of medical care. Till date, measurement of patient medication adherence and use of interventions to improve adherence are rare in routine clinical practice.

To conclude, life is precious; when you arise in the morning, think of what a precious freedom it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Don’t take your life for granted, watch before you pop those pills thoughtlessly.