New 6th Edition

ISBN: 1405302631
Published: February 2004
Pages: 512

Fully updated and expanded edition of the BMA's definitive home reference guide to 260 major prescription and over-the-counter drugs and medicines. Written in clear jargon-free language, this book is essential reading for anybody wanting to know more about the medication they are taking or to have at home for reference.

• Accessible and user-friendly, the book features a revised Colour Identification Guide including life-sized photographs of over 200 tablets, capsules and pills in full colour for easy identification
• Over 2,500 prescription and over-the-counter drugs and medicines are outlined in a comprehensive Drug Finder, with detailed full-page descriptions of over 260 individual generic drugs
• A Major Drug Groups section includes over 80 principle classes of drug, including their uses, actions, intended effects and side effects.
• This expanded new edition features over 20 new drug profiles including botulinum toxin ("botox"), as well as the latest information on new drugs for asthma, cancer, diabetes, weight-loss and anti-smoking medication.

In a world where a visit to the GP or other medical professional is usually rather rushed, we often don’t get the time or the chance to ask all the questions we would like answered. We are then left trying to make sense of a maze of medical information, often written in confusing medical jargon.

Whereas once we may have blindly taken whatever the doctor ordered, many people today wish to know more about the medicines we are prescribed. A recent MORI survey showed that 29% of us ‘feel we don’t know enough about the potential side-effects of medicines’ and 1/3 feel we don’t have enough information about what to do if we have the side effects.

The BMA New Guide to Medicines & Drugs seeks to address this problem. This new 6th edition includes information on over 2,500 prescription and over-the-counter drugs and medications. A ‘Major Drug Groups’ section includes over 80 principal classes of drugs including their uses, actions, intended effects and side effects, and the comprehensive ‘Drug Finder’ gives detailed full-page descriptions of over 260 individual generic drugs. Importantly, these profiles tell you not only what the possible side-effects could be, but gives an indication of how likely it is you will experience these side effects, and whether you should seek medical help if you do. All the information in the book is written in clear, jargon-free language making it easy for the lay-person to understand and consequently take more control over their own medication.