Integumentary System
Lesson 5: Dermatological Drugs
5-2
5-2. DRUG USES
In today's society, there are legitimate and not so legitimate uses of drugs. Listed below are some of the legitimate uses:
a. To Maintain Health. Vitamins and minerals are used and abused in the pursuit of good health.
b. To Reverse a Disease Process. Antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents are commonly used in medicine today to cure diseases.
c. To Relieve Symptoms. Drugs which act to relieve symptoms do not cure the patient. Instead, they help make the patient more comfortable in order for him to work or function. The assumption is that the body will cure itself.
d. To Prevent Disease. Vaccines and toxoids are widely used to prevent disease. In the 1940s and 1950s, many parents kept their children home to avoid polio. Today, most parents think of polio only when they take their children for the periodic (and necessary) vaccination for this still- present threat. Also, children today do not normally become ill with measles; instead, they are vaccinated for measles.
