Antacids

perform a neutralization reaction, increasing the pH to reduce acidity in the stomach. When gastric hydrochloric
acid reaches thenerves in the gastrointestinal mucosa, they signal pain to the central nervous system. This happens when
these nerves are exposed, as inpeptic ulcers.
Antacids reduce the effect of (neutralize) the acid in your stomach. They can provide fast, short-term relief. Many OTC
medicines combine different antacids.

Indication

Antacids are taken by mouth to relieve heartburn, the major symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or acid
indigestion. Treatment with antacids alone is symptomatic and only justified for minor symptoms. The treatment of ulcers
may require H2-receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors.

Antacids and acid reducers usually cause only minor side effects that go away on their own. These may include
headaches, nausea, constipation or diarrhea.

If you have kidney disease, you shouldn’t use antacids containing calcium carbonate or aluminum hydroxide and
magnesium carbonate without your doctor’s recommendation.

If you have chest pain that is severe or occurs with shortness of breath, dizziness or pain in your arms, you may be having
a heart attack. Call 911 or go to the emergency room immediately.

You should ask your family doctor before taking an antacid if you also have any of the following symptoms:

• Bloody or black stools

• Bloody vomit
• Heartburn that has not improved after 2 weeks of treatment with OTC medicines
• Trouble swallowing or pain when you swallow
• Unintended weight loss

Antidiarrheal
medicines include loperamide (one brand name: Imodium) and bismuth subsalicylate (some brand names: Kaopectate,
Pepto-Bismol). Bismuth subsalicylate can also be used for upset stomach and as anantiemetic (a medicine that treats
nausea and vomiting).

Depending on the cause of your diarrhea, you may also need to take antibiotics prescribed by your doctor. Antibiotics are
medicines that kill bacteria. If your doctor prescribes an antibiotic for you, it’s important to talk to your doctor before taking
any OTC medicine to relieve your symptoms.

Loperamide works by slowing down the speed of fluids moving through your intestines (bowels).

Bismuth subsalicylate works by balancing the way fluid moves through your intestines. It also reduces inflammation and
keeps certain bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea from growing in the stomach and intestines.

This medication is used to treat sudden diarrhea (including traveler's diarrhea). It works by slowing down the movement of
the gut. This decreases the number of bowel movements and makes the stool less watery. Loperamide treats only the
symptoms, not the cause of the diarrhea (e.g., infection). Treatment of other symptoms and the cause of the diarrhea
should be determined by your doctor.
Call your doctor if you notice any side effects.

• Loperamide side effects:

o Abdominal pain
o Constipation
o Dizziness
o Nausea
• Bismuth subsalicylate side effects:
o Constipation
o Blackened stools and/or tongue
o Ringing sound in the ear (called tinnitus)

Decongestants
work by narrowing blood vessels in the lining of the nose. This reduces how much blood flows through the area so that
swollen tissue inside the nose shrinks and air can pass through more easily.
Decongestants can help relieve a stopped-up nose caused by a cold or theflu (influenza), sinusitis or allergies.

Decongestants can temporarily cause nervousness, dizziness and sleeping problems. They can also cause heart
palpitations (the feeling that your heart is racing) or high blood pressure.

Antihistamines
are used to relieve or prevent allergy symptoms. Two types of OTC antihistamines are available: first-generation and
second-generation antihistamines. Both types can be useful for allergies. First-generation antihistamines are also
sometimes used in OTC cold medicines.

When your body is exposed to allergens, it releases histamines. Histamines attach to the cells in your body and cause
them to swell and leak fluid. This can cause itching, sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes. Antihistamines prevent
histamines from attaching to your cells and causing symptoms.

First-generation antihistamines also work in the part of the brain that controls nausea and vomiting. This is why they can
help prevent motion sickness. Because one of the most common side effects of first-generation antihistamines is feeling
sleepy, they are sometimes used to help people who have trouble sleeping (insomnia)

First-generation antihistamines can make you feel very sleepy. This can affect your ability to drive or operate
machines. It can also make it hard for you to think clearly. Antihistamines can cause your mouth and eyes to feel
dry. They can also cause abdominal pain and headaches. Second-generation antihistamines are much less likely
to cause these side effects.

Could OTC antihistamines cause problems with any other medicines I take?

Antihistamines can interact with other drugs you take. If you take any of the following drugs, talk to your doctor before
taking a first-generation antihistamine:

• Sleeping pills
• Sedatives
• Muscle relaxants

Antihistamines are often combined with decongestants and/or pain relievers. If you take one of these combination
medicines, it’s important to understand each of the active ingredients and the interactions they may have with other
medicines you’re taking.
Be sure not to take too much antihistamine. Many OTC cold and allergy medicines contain antihistamines, as do some
prescription drugs. If you take more than one of these products, you may get much more antihistamine than you intend.

Second-generation antihistamines are less likely to interact with other medicines you are taking.

Beta blockers (sometimes written as β-blockers) or beta-adrenergic blocking agents, beta-adrenergic antagonists, or
beta antagonists, are a class of drugs used for various indications, but particularly for the management of cardiac
arrhythmias, cardioprotection after myocardial infarction[1] (heart attack), and hypertension.[2] As beta adrenergic receptor
antagonists, they diminish the effects of epinephrine (adrenaline) and other stress hormones. In 1958 the first beta
blocker, dichloroisoproterenol, was synthesised by Eli Lilly Laboratories,[3] but it was Sir James W. Black in 1962,[4] who
found the first clinically significant use of beta blockers with propranololand pronethalol; it revolutionized the medical
management of angina pectoris[5] and is considered by many to be one of the most important contributions to clinical
medicine and pharmacology of the 20th century.[6]

Beta blockers block the action of endogenous catecholamines (epinephrine (adrenaline)

andnorepinephrine (noradrenaline) in particular), on β-adrenergic receptors, part of the sympathetic nervous system which
mediates the "fight or flight" response.[7][8] There are three known types of beta receptor, designated β1, β2 and
β3 receptors.[9] β1-adrenergic receptors are located mainly in the heart and in the kidneys.[8] β2-adrenergic receptors are
located mainly in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, uterus, vascular smooth muscle, and skeletal muscle.[8] β3-
adrenergic receptors are located in fat cells.[10]

Antipyretics /ænti.paɪˈrɛ.tɪks/; an-tee-pahy-ret-iks; from the Greek anti, against, and pyreticus, pertaining to fever)
are drugs that reducefever.[1] They will not normally lower body temperature if one does not have a fever. Antipyretics
cause the hypothalamus to override aninterleukin-induced increase in temperature. The body will then work to lower the
temperature and the result is a reduction in fever.

Most antipyretic medications have other purposes. The most common antipyretics in the United States
are ibuprofen and aspirin, which are used primarily as pain relievers. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are
antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and pain relievers. There is some debate over the appropriate use of such medications, as
fever is part of the body's immune response to infection.

The effectiveness of acetaminophen (paracetamol) alone as an antipyretic in children is uncertain with some evidence
showing it is no better than physical methods.[2] Therapies involving the combination of acetaminophen and aspirin, or
alternating doses of acetaminophen andibuprofen have shown somewhat greater antipyretic effect
than acetaminophen alone

Antipyretics are remedies which tend to reduce the temperature in fever. The reduction of temperature may be brought about
by cold or by drugs.

An antivertigo
drug is used to treat or prevent vertigo (a feeling of a spinning or rotation- type motion) that may occur with motion
sickness,

Antivertigo Drugs
An antivertigo drug is used to treat vertigo, which is
usually accompanied by light-headedness, dizziness,and weakness. The individual often has difficulty walk-ing. Some of
the causes of vertigo include high alcohol
consumption during a short time, certain drugs, inner ear disease, and postural hypotension. Motion sickness
(seasickness, carsickness) has similar symptoms but is
caused by repetitive motion (eg, riding in an airplane,boat, or car). Both vertigo and motion sickness may result in nausea
and vomiting.It is important to note that antivertigo drugs are
essentially antiemetics because many of these prepara-tions, whether used for motion sickness or vertigo, also have
direct or indirect antiemetic properties. They pre-
vent the nausea and vomiting that occur because of stimulation of the vestibular apparatus in the ear.Stimulation of this
apparatus results in vertigo, which is
often followed by nausea and vomiting.

An antiemetic
drug is used to treat or prevent nausea (unpleasant gastric sensation usually preceding vomit-ing) or vomiting (forceful
expulsion of gastric contents
through the mouth

USES
Antiemetic Drugs
An antiemetic is used to prevent (prophylaxis) or treat nausea and vomiting. An example of prophylactic use is the
administration of an antiemetic before surgery
to prevent vomiting during the immediate postopera-tive period when the patient is recovering from anes-thesia. Another
example is giving an antiemetic before
administration of one or a combination of antineo-plastic drugs (drugs used in the treatment of cancer; which have a high
incidence of causing vomiting.Dronabinol is the only currently available derivative of THC, which is a derivative of the
active substance found in marijuana. Dronabinol is a second-line antiemetic and is used after treatment with other
antiemetics has failed.
Other causes of nausea and vomiting that may be treated with an antiemetic include radiation therapy for a malignancy,
bacterial and viral infections, nau
sea and vomiting caused by drugs, Ménière’s disease and other ear disorders, and neurological diseases and disorders.
Some of these drugs also are used to trea
the nausea and vomiting seen with motion sickness Some antiemetics also are antivertigo drugs.

Antibiotics

are powerful medicines that fight bacterial infections. Used properly, antibiotics can save lives. They either kill bacteria or
keep them from reproducing. Your body's natural defenses can usually take it from there.

Antibiotics do not fight infections caused by viruses, such as

• Colds
• Flu
• Most coughs and bronchitis
• Sore throats, unless caused by strep
If a virus is making you sick, taking antibiotics may do more harm than good. Each time you take antibiotics, you increase
the chances that bacteria in your body will be able to resist them. Later, you could get or spread an infection that those
antibiotics cannot cure.

When you take antibiotics, follow the directions carefully. It is important to finish your medicine even if you feel better. Do
not save antibiotics for later or use someone else's prescription.

Antibiotic macrolides are used to treat infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae,
and Haemophilus influenzaeinfections such as respiratory tract and soft-tissue infections. The antimicrobial spectrum of
macrolides is slightly wider than that of penicillin, and, therefore, macrolides are a common substitute for patients with a
penicillin allergy. Beta-hemolytic streptococci, pneumococci,staphylococci, and enterococci are usually susceptible to
macrolides. Unlike penicillin, macrolides have been shown to be effective againstLegionella
pneumophilia, mycoplasma, mycobacteria, some rickettsia, and chlamydia.

Macrolides are not to be used on non-ruminant herbivores, such as horses and rabbits. They rapidly produce a reaction
causing fatal digestive disturbance. [1] It can be used in horses less than one year old, but care must be taken that other
horses (such as a foal's mother) do not come in contact with the macrolide treatment.