In India, Dr. Ravi Malik - Founder and Director of Healthcare, Malik Radix Healthcare - warned that easy access to over-the-counter drugs (OTCs) is creating serious risks.
Below are the groups of drugs that parents often abuse the most:
1. Paracetamol
This is the type of drug that is most commonly overdosed. Common mistakes are giving children doses that are too close to each other, using adult drugs and then dividing them emotionally, or using many types of syrup at the same time without knowing that they all contain paracetamol. This leads to accumulated toxicity, causing serious liver damage and metabolic complications.
2. Cough syrup and combination medications
Many syrups contain a mixture of antihistamines, nasal decongestants, and cough suppressants. Abuse of them can cause excessive drowsiness, respiratory failure, and cardiovascular effects, especially in children under 2 years old.
3. Vitamin D and functional foods
Although vitamin deficiency is common, high-dose supplementation without medical indication can lead to poisoning. Too high vitamin D levels will cause increased blood calcium, causing children to vomit and damage kidneys.
Faced with that reality, experts recommend that the protection of children's health should start from using medicine at the right dose, at the right age and always following the doctor's instructions. Instead of abusing medicine, with mild fevers or colds, parents should prioritize supplementing enough fluids (milk, water, oresol); let children rest in a quiet environment; use warm towels to wipe the body and physiological saline to rinse the nose.
