Drowsiness, drowsiness, distraction, blurred vision, unresponsiveness... "Drug driving" warning.
Try not to drive after taking these 7 types of drugs
Recently, a small car in Handan collided with several non-motor vehicles in the non-motorized vehicle lane, causing 4 deaths and 14 injuries. The news rushed to the hot search on Weibo.
After investigation, the driver took a certain analgesic prescription drug for a long time, and overdose on the day of the incident, which eventually led to a tragedy.
In recent years, the harm of drunk driving has become more and more popular, but another "drug driving" that can also cause dangerous driving risks is often ignored by everyone.
Today, pharmacists will take stock of 7 types of drugs that will affect driving safety after taking them.
You could be 'drinked and driven' by taking these drugs
"Drug driving", as the name implies, is the phenomenon that the driver still drives after taking certain drugs that may affect safe driving. After taking these drugs, it may cause drowsiness, drowsiness, distraction, dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision, Undesirable reactions such as unresponsiveness can easily lead to disasters.
In the broad sense of drug driving, alcohol is actually a kind of drug, but in domestic and foreign research and reports, drug driving and drunk driving are described separately.
The main reason is that in addition to being more common, the judgment of drunk driving can be quickly interpreted through the test results of breath alcohol concentration or blood alcohol concentration, with a clear range of indicators.
However, there are more varieties of drugs that may cause drug driving, and the detection methods have higher technical requirements. Therefore, there are practical difficulties in the lack of drug screening standards and the identification of drug driving is greatly affected by human factors.
Therefore, everyone's awareness of drug driving needs to be improved.
At present, the frequency of alcohol in the driver's body in traffic accidents is decreasing, while the frequency of drugs is increasing. Drug driving is also attracting more and more public attention.
At present, the most well-known drug that may cause drug driving should be Huoxiangzhengqi Water, which is a preparation containing alcohol.
In addition, there are also preparations such as compound licorice oral solution, ten drops of water, cold and cough syrup that contain alcohol.
Some people like to drink medicinal wine, which is made by soaking Chinese medicinal materials with 75% alcohol, which will also become a hidden danger of drug driving or drunk driving.
The "power" of the standing medicine in the small medicine cabinet is even greater than that of alcohol
In addition to formulation reasons, there are also some drugs, because of their own pharmacological effects, that will produce adverse reactions that affect driving safety.
The World Health Organization has listed 7 categories of drugs that may affect safe driving after taking them, and proposed that driving should be prohibited after taking these drugs.
These drugs are also very common in our daily life, including:
Sedative-hypnotics such as zolpidem, diazepam, and estazolam can cause dizziness, drowsiness, drowsiness, blurred vision, and decreased concentration.
Antiepileptic drugs such as carbamazepine and phenytoin may cause dizziness, headache, and drowsiness.
Allergy medicines such as chlorpheniramine can also cause drowsiness.
Antipyretic analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen can cause adverse reactions such as headache, dizziness, and visual disturbances.
Antitussives such as dextromethorphan can cause drowsiness and dizziness.
Antihypertensive drugs such as nifedipine can cause headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and low blood pressure.
Antidiabetic drugs, such as glimepiride, may cause hypoglycemia, which can lead to convulsions, coma, and confusion.
The effects of these drugs on the nervous system are even stronger than those of alcohol.
It is worth noting that in addition to western medicine, some traditional Chinese medicines may also have the risk of drug driving. For example, gastrodia elata contains gastrodin, which has significant sedative and hypnotic effects; ginseng has anti-fatigue effects, but long-term use is prone to irritability.
Three kinds of medication habits are most prone to adverse reactions
No matter what kind of drug it is, it must be used in accordance with the instructions of the drug or under the guidance of a doctor. Improper drug use behavior will cause adverse events including drug driving.
Overdosing includes overdose or self-increasing frequency of medication.
Many of the effects of drugs are positively related to the dose, and overdose will increase the probability of adverse drug reactions.
Repeated medication, such as some cold medicines, are mostly compound preparations, containing acetaminophen, pseudoephedrine, chlorpheniramine, etc. These ingredients are easy to make people sleepy.
If you take antitussive drugs at the same time, especially compound preparations, some of the drug ingredients may be duplicated, so that people actually take more drugs without knowing it.
Interactions between drugs and drugs may also affect their effects on the human body. Increasing the types of drugs at will will also increase the chance of adverse drug reactions.
Do not drive for at least 6-8 hours after taking the medicine
Both professional drivers and ordinary people should try to avoid driving on the road while taking the drug.
In unavoidable circumstances, if drowsiness, drowsiness, distraction, unresponsiveness, dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision, difficulty in color discrimination, and poor orientation occur after taking the drug, you should stop driving immediately.
Professionally, it generally takes 3 to 5 half-lives for a drug to be completely eliminated from the human body.
The so-called half-life refers to the time required for this process from the start of taking the drug until the blood concentration of the drug in the body decreases to half of the highest blood concentration.
If it is difficult to achieve in real life, at least the blood concentration of the drug in the human body should reach the highest peak and drop to a certain level before driving.
Unlike medicines, the time it takes for blood levels to drop is not exactly the same.
But generally it takes at least 6-8 hours to drive after persuading the drug.
Avoid falling out of the pit to do this before taking the medicine
In order to avoid drug driving, you should pay attention to the following points in your daily life:
1. When seeing a doctor in the hospital, you should take the initiative to inform the doctor that you need to drive, and ask the doctor to avoid using drugs that will adversely affect the driver; if you are taking drugs, you should also fully inform the doctor.
2. Be sure to read the instructions before taking the medicine. The precautions and taboos in some drug instructions will contain the words "Do not drive machines, cars, boats, engage in high-altitude operations, mechanical operations and operate precision instruments after taking the medicine". To avoid driving.
3. You can ask your pharmacist whether you can drive a vehicle after taking the medicine when you visit the hospital or buy medicine in the pharmacy.
Most importantly, awareness of the risks of drug driving should be raised.
Drug instructions are compiled and revised in the course of well-designed clinical trials, long-term or large-scale clinical use, based on test statistics and post-clinical use evaluations. Data is the most powerful proof, so don’t take chances.
Text/Tang Jingmao Gantai (Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital)