20 Jul, 2010 in
Health and Pharmacy News by
admin
Online Medication Pharmacy
Medical health news and information.Latest
Boosting Selenium Intake May Lower Bladder Cancer Risk, Particularly in WomenBy
Kelli Miller Stacy
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By
Laura J. Martin, MD
Aug. 31, 2010 -- Adding more selenium to your diet may lower your[...]
READ FULL ARTICLE »
Teaspoons, Tablespoons Used to Dispense Medicine Can Cause Dosing Errors By Reviewed By July 16, 2010 — Using kitchen spoons to dispense medicine to kids can cause dangerous overdoses, a recent study warns. Researchers from Greece as well as Boston examined 71 teaspoons as well as 49 tablespoons that they collected from households in the Attica region of Greece, which includes Athens, as well as found that the capacities of the spoons varied widely. Teaspoon capacity ranged from 0.08 to 0.25 of an ounce, with an average volume of 0.15 of an ounce. The capacity of tablespoons ranged from 0.23 to 0.45 of an ounce, with an average of nearly 0.35 of an ounce. “The variations between the domestic spoon sizes was considerable as well as in some cases bore no relation to the proper calibrated spoons included in many commercially available children’s medicines,” says Matthew E. Falagas, MD, DSc, director of the Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Athens, Greece. “A parent using one of the biggest domestic teaspoons would be giving their child 192% more medicine than a parent using the smallest teaspoon.” He says this “increases the chance of a child receiving an overdose or indeed too little medication.” Falagas, who is as well as affiliated with the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston as well as the Henry Dunant Hospital in Greece, says 25 women took part in the study, aged between 24 as well as 84, with an average age of 48. Some were mothers as well as others grandmothers. He says in a news release that most caregivers had between one as well as three dissimilar teaspoons as well as tablespoons in their homes, but two had as many as six dissimilar teaspoons, one of whom had five dissimilar tablespoons.
“We not only found expansive variations between households, we as well as found considerable differences within households,” Falagas says. The research team as well as wanted to find out what happened when five of the women were asked to give medication from a calibrated 0.17 ounce medicine spoon as well as found that only one dispensed the proper dose of liquid. Three dispensed 0.16 ounce as well as one about 0.165. The researchers say their findings mean parents need to be warned to take calibrated medicine oral syringes to dispense liquid medication to kids. Plus, such devices are often easier to take because spoons can be easily pushed away. “This problem is probably bigger when liquid medication is provided to tiny kids who may not stand still or cry,” the authors write. “Dosing as well as administering medication to kids is dissimilar from adults,” Falagas says in the news release. “Pediatric dosages need to be adjusted to age as well as body weight as well as, as a result, kids are considered to be more vulnerable to dosage errors than adults.” Getting the Fair DoseThe research makes cloudless that using domestic spoons — tea or table — can cause kids to get too much or too little medication. “Low-cost medicine syringes are widely available from pharmacists, very easy to take, as well as will give parents greater confidence that they possess dispensed the correct dose,” the authors say, adding that adults as well as should avoid using domestic spoons when using liquid medications themselves. “Although adults dont face the alike risk levels as kids, we would still advise them to take properly calibrated spoons or cups incase they take any liquid medicine,” the authors say. Teaspoons as well as tablespoons possess extended been widely used for measuring as well as administering liquid medication to kids, as well as continue to be popular with parents as well as caregivers, the researchers say. “This may be explained by the fact that they are convenient to take,” the authors write. “In addition, teaspoons as well as tablespoons are inexpensive as well as available to almost every household.” But they are not reliable in terms of dosage, the authors say, as well as shouldn’t be used. Previous research has shown, the authors write, that the “consequences of misdosing, either overdosing or underdosing medication” with teaspoons or tablespoons, is worrisome. They as well as say that misdosing of antibiotics can result “in emergence of antimicrobial resistance.” The study is published in the August issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice. SOURCES: News release, The International Journal of Clinical Practice. |
No Responses so far | Have Your Say!
Leave a Feedback
Navigation
