Headaches, high blood pressure or hay fever – medications help with many illnesses and complaints.
But in addition to the hoped-for effects, they often have undesirable side effects in the body.
Part of taking a medication is weighing the risk of side effects, which seem to be an unavoidable part of the equation.
Below, experts from Germany run through the most important questions regarding side effects, as well as give tips on how to mitigate them:
No effective medicine is free of side effects – is that true?
Yes and no, says Corinna Schaefer, who heads the department dedicated to patient information and evidence-based medicine and guidelines at the German Agency for Quality in Medicine.
Some antibiotics can lose their effectiveness when taken with certain foods or drinks. dpa
Antibiotics are among the most commonly-prescribed drugs and one of the most important medical achievements of the 20th century.
Comprised of more than 80 different antibacterial agents, they are used to treat and prevent bacterial infections, including inflammation of the lungs, bladder and tonsils.
But bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics.
This can occur if you take them when you don’t need them, the dosage is too high or the duration of intake is too long.
What’s more, the interaction of some antibiotics with certain medications and foods can have undesired effects, and possibly serious consequences.