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Medicines are any substances that are meant to change the way your body deals with an illness or injury or to maintain your health and wellbeing, no matter where you get them from.

Medicines come in many forms, such as tablets, liquids, inhalers, drops, patches, creams, lotions, pessaries, suppositories and injections. Some are taken by mouth, while others are applied to parts of the body.

A lot of people don’t realise that herbal medicines, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements are all medicines. They are called complementary medicines.

What does a medicine do?

Different medicines do different things. Some are meant to treat illnesses or injuries. Some are meant to prevent illnesses or maintain health and wellbeing. Others are meant to ease the problems caused by an illness or injury

Where do I get medicines from?

You get some medicines from the pharmacist, with a prescription from a doctor or dentist. You get other medicines from the pharmacist without a prescription. You can also get some medicines from supermarkets, health food shops, herbalists, naturopaths and the internet.

What do I need to consider?

Because some medicines interact with each other, you should consider two important things.

One is that the medicines you are taking may already be interacting with each other. Your doctor, dentist, pharmacist or other health professional can help you find out about this only if you tell them about all the medicines you are taking.

This includes any complementary medicines or medicines that are bought over the counter at pharmacies, supermarkets and health food stores.

The other is that when your health professional prescribes something new for you, he or she needs to know all the other medicines you are taking to make sure no problems arise. Your pharmacist and other health professionals will want to know the same thing. So make sure you have a list of all the medicines you take,even the occasional ones.

Some medicines may also interact with food or alcohol and affect the way you act. Others cannot be taken during pregnancy. See consumer medicine information or ask your health professional.

For more information

Contact the Medicines Line on 1300 888 763, or the National Prescribing Service at www.nps.org.au, or the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia at www.chf.org.au.

NPS and CHF are partners in the Community Quality Use of Medicines program.