A Gastrointestinal Disorder (Essay Sample)

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Question 1
A gastrointestinal disorder is a malfunctioning of one or more organs of the digestive system that may run from the stomach to the anus and any other related organ such as the pancreas, appendix or sometimes the liver as well (Laurencin, 2008). These gastrointestinal disorders can be caused by a vast number of causes that may range from consumption of bad food, sensitivity of the organs themselves, consumption of harmful products and edibles or sometimes physical damages. The drugs that can be taken to help cure these disorders depend on the degree of damage that has been caused by the disorder. For instance mere pain in the stomach can be tackled by purchasing over the counter painkillers that help reduce stomach aches. Some require highly advanced medications that can only be prescribed by a medical practitioner and in some cases such as appendices, will require surgery.
There are laws set by the court and administrations that help regulate the advertising and limits that people should not pass while advertising for the FDA regulated medicines. FDA provides the specific means which people can use to market their medicinal products of these disorders. Being a pharmaceutical product, they believe that the advertisement and advice on use of these medicines cannot be fully left to advertising companies and must be regulated. Omeprazole Blog is one such online advertising agencies that advertise the gastrointestinal disorder drugs and other drugs as well. The advices put in these articles are not written by professional medical practitioners but by bloggers who use other people's experiences and researches from other people in the field of medicine and nursing. It can be concluded that the information is not misleading but proper care must be followed and all testimonies or facts laid by the site must be correct and not just a means to successfully market the products.
In particular, this site talks about heartburns and the drugs that can be used to cure heartburns. They cite some studies that were carried out by the National Institute of Health and gives facts based on what the studies presented. They also mention some drugs that are said to be relievers of heartburns and related gastrointestinal disorders which were recommended by the institute named above and that are FDA regulated such as Zantac and Pepcid. Such a site can be said to have little information about the medication of these disorders but make a good move to reference from professionals' researches making the information about the drugs valid and relevant.
Question 2
Every year, there are different varieties of drugs that are approved by the FDA and given permission to be sold to the market that needs these drugs. However, there are a few drugs that have never been approved by the organization but have been in the market and are being sold to customers up to date. The reason most of these drugs have not been approved is either because of the standards in which they have been prepared in or because of the side effects that the drugs inflict on consumers. Some drugs are said to have worse side effects than the benefits they bring about to the consumers. Domperidone is such a drug that has never been approved by the FDA but people continue to buy it and use it to help cure the gastrointestinal disorders (Hughes, 2010). Its function is to reduce peripheral dopamine production.Top of Form
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Due to the fact that it has never been approved by the FDA, there have been numerous attempts to try and produce it under a different name and form in order to have it approved by the organization.
The reason it has not been approved is because of the heart related problems it brings to some patients and as such, there are further tests that need to be done to a patient in order to give the go ahead of whether or not it is safe to consume the drug. However, there are practitioners who do not do this and go ahead to prescribe this medicine to patients (Hughes, 2010). There are some patients who also purchase this drug over the counter in some specific areas in order to suppress the gastrointestinal disorders they have. This drug is mostly advertised on online sites and journals that circulate through the internet. It is relatively hard to find its advertisement on print media, radio or television mostly because it is not an FDA approved drug. For such drugs that are not approved, their use is usually at the owner's risk and no organization such as the FDA is responsible for the side effects that come about because of the use of this drug especially if the patient bought the drug without professional consultation.
For the article where Domperidone is advertised, they do it responsibly in that they clearly state the consequences and side effects of the drug as well as the advantage that comes about with its use (/treatments/medications, 2015). They also clearly state that it is not a drug approved by the FDA so if there are any seriousness side effects that a patient might suffer, the site is not responsible. This should be the trend that should be followed by all advertising companies and agencies of drugs that are not approved by the FDA. Stating the reason why the drug is not approved, the side effects of the drug and also the benefit so that the patient, nurse or doctor is fully aware of what the drug will do to the human body after consumption. Publishing of false information or not disclosing all information on such matters is unacceptable because of the hazards likely to be caused.
Question 3
The gastrointestinal disorder under discussion is heartburn that is usually characterized by many people as a feeling of burning sensation in the throat just after having a meal. Most people are advised to treat heartburns using simple remedies, some of which can be found at home but some people prefer to take medications as advised by a medical practitioner. Even though heartburns are not extremely serious, they are quite common and are usually many people's concern and therefore they cannot be assumed. There are generally accepted drugs that help reduce heartburns some of which can be sold over the counter (Rettig, 2005). Those that do not improve as a result of over the counter drugs are the serious types of the disorder and they require more advanced drugs that only doctors prescribe to a patient based on the body physiology and what they are allergic to in order to prevent negative side effects of drugs on a patient. The different degrees of gastrointestinal disorders result to the different levels of dr