Self-medication with complementary and alternative medicine. A risk?

Abstract

Self-medication (SM) is not only the use of non-prescribed drugs, but also includes the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which includes all practices that do not comply with medical standards, being understood as alternative when used instead of conventional medicine (CM) and complementary to concomitant use. The highest percentages of use are found in underdeveloped countries, especially biological therapies. The studies reviewed agree that women are the main users. The reasons for use are diverse, in many cases derived from the poor results and side effects obtained with CM, as well as the difficulty of accessing health services. Among the main dangers are adverse drug reactions (ADRs), drug-drug interactions and the difficulty in calculating a safe dose. Although the traditions and knowledge about these therapies date back to ancient times, it is important that they are always accompanied by treatment and medical follow-up. In Mexico, biological therapies are at the top of the list of CAM for chronic pathologies such as diabetes mellitus type 2, anxiety, depression, and for acute pathologies such as respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. The objective of the manuscript is to provide a general overview of the subject, as it is currently a little reviewed topic, but of relevance due to its high prevalence and the negative effects derived from it, so health personnel must be updated in order to be able to make timely interventions to reduce its use.