By – DR. ANURADHA DAS
         MHA, PGDPH, BDS,

The term” OVERDOSE” simply means anything consumed in excess. So let us know first what is DRUG OVERDOSE?? Taking any drugs in excess??NO!! Here I will share you in simple word what the drug overdose means,, When an individual ingest drug or other substances in quantity more than the recommended dose prescribed by a Doctor resulting in drug overdose. Usage of illicit drugs in larger count or after a period of drug abstaining can induce overdose . Unintentional or by accidental misuse of the prescribed drugs is common cause of drug overdose.

REVIEWED INFORMATION
Starting from the year 1999-2018 around 450000 death has been accounted globally .In the year 2017 around 14000 people died of COCAINE misuse and overdose in US alone. In the year 2016 around 42000 people died of HEROINE misuse. According to IMME GLOBAL BURDEN OF DISEASE current death record  in 2018 is noted  as far 67300 Americans annually. By the year 2017 United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime/WHO together have launched s-o-s initiative to set  global implementation targets to access OPIOD overdose prevention with recommendation from WHO guidelines on community management of Opiod drug overdose. Around  5.6% global death per year has been recorded. Highest age group who are commonly affected is 18-25years.Overall  46 death takes place everyday globally due to drug abuse and its toxic reaction.

 

NOW EVERY MIND HAS ONE QUERY-ARE ALL FORM OF DRUGS LEADS TO OVERDOSE???
 

The answer is NO!!!There are few drugs which elevate toxicity when misused. Pain reliever drugs like Tylenol, Mapap, Anti-anxiety drugs like Benzos family which have the highest risk group ,Anti-coagulants drugs like Strokes, Thrombosis, Warfarin, Heparin, Anti-Depressants Drugs like Cynabalta, Zoloft  given to the Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, OCD Compulsive Disorder .Anti-Hypertensive drugs like Bromocriptine, Clarithromycin, Clozapine. Recreational drug like COCAINE are harmful. Many other drugs used in as cough medication like Nyonil, Theraflu. Drugs like Digoxin, Colchicine are also enlisted as reactive drugs. Another high risk group of drug is HEROIN which is an illicit recreational Opiod drug made from MORPHINE.Semi-synthetic Opiods like Percocet, Oxytocin, Senpain are some other drug relating to overdose and mishaps.

THE STRUGGLING JOURNEY
A special Mantra for those who are in this journey to overcome themselves to a better life is “Never Give Up”. If you are the one of the sufferer you go through a lot of hurdles that one normal individual cannot understand or imagine the amount of pain. Losing yourself comes the first in your journey .Here are few other hardship listed below for better knowing the sufferer..Lets take a note of it:

  • Uttering unnatural things that does not make any sense
  • Very tired and sad
  • Mixing with other group of people leading into illegal pathways to survive
  • Losing interest in activities
  • Lack of active participation in the community
  • Changing moods
  • Inattentive in work or school
  • Tremoring hands , chapped lips, nervousness or cranky
  • Redness in eye ,lips and nose along with itching and rashes all around
  • Blue-black Marks in the body due to the administration of drugs by injection
  • Loss of appetite.

ACTION PLANS ON WORK
Drug consumption rooms are created which are supervised. Around 87 room facilities are operated on duty across European states serving specific subgroups of highly marginalized and homeless drug users. This room focuses to give more preventive care to the homeless drug abusers and help reducing the acute risks of diseases, inhaling or injecting drug. They focuses on use of illicit drugs in wider public area. They also provide suitable environment and advice safer medication under strict supervision. Millions of injection have been supervised and no casualties have been noted till date.

YOU CAN LIGHT UP SOMEONE’S LIFE  IN NEED
Yes you can!!!The first thing one can do as a first aid when the severity is minimal is usage of ice-cream or milk consumption which helps neutralizing acidic or alkaline poisons(ACCORDING TO NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MNIHUS )another could be charcoal. NALOXONE antidote has shown an improved bystander response which can be administered with continuous monitoring at home. Medical emergency needs immediate admission and medication .Lend social help and support.

EPILOGUE
I would suggest all the reader to spread humanity among everyone and lend all your support who is in need around you. Reducing vulnerability could be a major step taken to control the misuse of drug and these can be done by removing the possible barriers to service provision, the next thing can be empowering the drug users to prevent themselves from drug abuse, by creating awareness among themselves and provide sufficient knowledge for safer drug use and finally by assessing the possible treatments and facilities for the risk holders. Drug abusers often drive them to illegal pathways to pay for their own drug demand, doing several criminal offences like illegal drug trading, smuggling drugs, rum-running and many more offences. The four common drugs leading to criminal offence are COCAINE , HEROINE, MORPHINE & AMPHETAMINES. Drug abuse is an illegal offence and is punishable act which can cause rigourous imprisonment upto  1-2 years along with penalty of huge amount ranging upto 1-2 lakh. We cannot call the drug abuser directly a “CRIMINAL” rather we call it as a” ILLNESS”.As a responsible citizen wherever we stay, let us take an oath today to save the life of individual who need your help and can have a better life after you. Be a LANTERN to someone’s DARKNESS and light up their LIFE.