1. 7
Know your Medicines
• Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box”
for details of each medicine.
• For Quickly Knowing Dosages, look at
“Medicines At A Glance”

2. 7-1
MEDICINES
What Are Medicines?
Anything that can help the body to correct An antibiotic like Penicillin or Amoxycillin that
an illness is called a medicine. There are many kills the germs will also decrease the pain,
types of medicines. Some may help in swelling and fever. But these antibiotics cannot
decreasing pain directly. Others may decrease be called painkillers because they cannot
both pain and fever. Others may slow down decrease the pain caused by injuries. Painkillers
the speed of the intestine to reduce diarrhoea. like Aspirin and Paracetamol are those
Then there are antibiotics that can kill germs. medicines that can decrease any kind of pain,
Germs may cause an abscess that leads to pain, whether by an abscess, by fracture or due to
swelling and fever. cramps in the abdomen.
Hence we will have to learn a bit more about medicines so that we can correctly learn to use them.
Give medicines only when absolutely needed !
Types of Medicines
1. Painkillers
Painkillers are a group of medicines that mainly work by
acting on the brain to reduce the sensation of any kind of
pain. There are many painkillers like Aspirin (As-pi-rin),
Diclofenac (Dy-clo-fen-ack), Ibuprofen (I-bu-pro-fen) and
Paracetamol (Para-si-ta-maul) [PCM]. All these also reduce
inflammation - that is the power of the body to heal infections or injuries.
Inflammation in any part of the body can cause five things:
Local heat or Fever
Swelling
Redness
Pain and
Decrease in functioning
As a result, the medicines of this group not only reduce pain but also reduce fever, swelling, redness
and lack of activity that comes along with injury or infection. We shall be using only Aspirin, Ibuprofen
and Paracetamol.
All these painkillers tend to irritate the lining of the stomach, Aspirin being the worst culprit. Hence
all these drugs must always be taken only with meals or within two hours of a meal. As they can cut
down the defence capacity of the body against injury and infection, instead of giving them three or
four times daily, we must give them sparingly when the fever or pain is not bearable.
Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box” for details of each medicine.

3. 7-2
2. Germ killers
Just as there are many different
types of germs, there are many
types of germ killers. Some may be
applied as onitments, others eaten
or given as injections and some only
as injections.
Although there are many medicines to kill bacteria, we will learn to handle a few of them, like
Amoxicillin (A-moksy-si-lin), Cotrimoxazole (Co-tri-mok-sah-zole), Ciprofloxacin (Ci-pro-flog-sa-sin),
Doxycycline (Dok-si-sy-klin), Furazolidone (Few-rah-zo-li-done) and Nitrofurazone (Ny-tro-few-ra-
zone) ointment.
There are no effective medicines to kill viruses. To kill other germs, there are many and we shall
learn about some of them. Like Chloroquine (Klo-ro-kwin) and S-P combination for malaria,
Metronidazole (Met-ro-ni-dah-zole) eaten for Amoebiasis and Gammexane (BHC) lotion applied
for lice and scabies.
Albendazole (Al-ben-da-zoal) can be used against intestinal worms. Miconazole (My-co-na-zoal)
cream can be applied against fungus in the skin
All germ killers are most effective if they are eaten empty stomach. But some of them like Doxycycline
may lead to stomach ache in some people and hence must be given after food.
N.B. As bacteria can lead to an abscess and pus, we can give a germ killer like Doxycycline, Cotrimoxazole or
Amoxycillin. By killing gersm, no new pus is formed and the fever and pain also reduce. But these medicines
are not called painkillers, because they cannot reduce pain from injuries or other reasons.
3. Drugs for digestive system
ANTACID (An-ta-sid)
Made of two salts, tablet Antacid (Anti + Acid ) helps to reduce the effect of acid
in the stomach. They need to be chewed for better effect. In an adult, two to four
tablets at a time (they are not absorbed and there is nothing to fear ) are needed to
provide relief in Gastritis. The may cause constipation in some.
ATROPINE (At-ro-pin)/DICYCLOMINE (Die-sy-clo-min)
Both these medicines reduce the movement of the intestine. They slow down the movement – hence
they may help in diarhhoea - but must be sparingly used and NEVER IN CHILDREN. They can
decrease the squeezing and when given together with a painkiller they can reduce cramps in the
intestine in dysentery and the cramps of uterus pain during monthly periods in women.
METOCLOPRAMIDE (Me–to–klo-pra-myde)
This medicine helps in decreasing vomiting and the feeling of nausea. It also helps to improve the
coordination of the movements of the stomach and the intestine.
ISABGUL
Available not at chemist shops but at grocery shops, ISABGUL is the dry husk of a plant and is very
good for the digestive system. When soaked in water/curd /milk for a few minutes and taken at
night, it helps to relieve constipation. It can also help in increasing the bulk of a loose motion and
helps to control them.
Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box” for details of each medicine.

4. 7-3
4. Drugs for the breathing system
SALBUTAMOL (Sal-byu-tah-maul)
This medicine reduces the tightening of the smooth muscle found in the breath-
ing tunes called the bronchus. In people who find difficulty in breathing due to
bronchitis or due to Asthma, Salbutamol is a very safe medicine. It takes time to
make its effect and is not useful in emergency.
AMINOPHYLLINE (A- my-no-phy-lin)
This medicine acts faster than Salbutamol, but that also means that it has to be given more times a
day. Salbutamol effect lasts longer and may be taken only twice a day.
5. Drugs for nutrition
IRON
Deficiency of Iron in our body is present in more than two thirds of Indian women.
This causes anaemia and hence iron can be given by pill form to help women.
Depending on the levels of anaemia, the iron should be taken for one month
extra after the anaemia has come down, so that the body stores that have been
emptied are also filled up once again.
VITAMIN A
The deficiency of Vitamin A is also very common amongst children. Although Ronga Lau or red
pumpkin, green leafy vegetables and yellow or red fruit provide Vitamin A, giving Vitamin A from
government supplies every six months would be a major support. Vitamin A not only prevents
children from getting night blindness and wounds of the eye, but also helps in keeping serious effects
of measles away and doesn’t allow infections of the breathing and digestive systems from getting
serious.
6. General Drugs
CHLORPHENIRAMINE
This is a medicine to lessen the effects of allergy. As allergy can be due to pollen,
to food, to creams and oils or even to other medicines, Chlorpheniramine helps
in relieving the problems like rash, itching, breathing difficulty or swelling due
to allergy. However, CPM can make a person feel sleepy and anyone taking this
must not handle any machinery like thresher or tractor.
CODEINE
This is a medicine that can be used for different things. It reduces the activity of smooth muscle in
the bronchi and also decreases pain.
Codeine can decrease pain by acting on the brain, but luckily does not decrease the swelling or
fever if any. The problem is that people can get addicted to it, and hence it should not be given to
anyone for more than a few days and NEVER ON A REGULAR BASIS TO ANYONE.
It can block the cough and can be used for DRY COUGH alone. If given in cough where there is
phlegm or mucus, giving Codeine may lead to the germs getting blocked inside and to pneumonia!
Not to be given to children or old people, it has value in others who cannot get a good sleep
because of a dry hacking cough.
Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box” for details of each medicine.

5. 7-4
Know the Answers
Know Your Medicines
1. Please mark whether “Right” or “Wrong”
a. AMOXYCILLIN is a painkiller and helps decreases the pain
and swelling caused by boils.
b. PARACETAMOL and ASPIRIN can decrease pain in any part
of the body and it can also decrease fevers of all kinds.
c. ATROPINE can reduce the chances of children dying from
diarrhoea.
d. CODEINE can be given in children’s pneumonia to reduce
cough.
e. IRON tablets give better iron than leafy vegetables, meat, pork,
etc.
f. SALBUTAMOL can be given for asthmatic patients to have
more oxygen come into the lungs.
Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box” for details of each medicine.

6. 7-5
My Notes
Refer to your manual called “Your Medicine Box” for details of each medicine.