When doctors prescribe drugs, many patients ask them questions like, “This drug has a lot of side effects, right? I’ve read the instructions and there are a lot of serious side effects written in them, I can’t take this medicine!” Such concerns are completely understandable, but doctors often need to explain to patients about such issues for a long time, and in some cases, misunderstandings can arise, which can seriously harm the mutual trust between doctors and patients. Some people even resort to violence as a result, which affects their normal work. It is quite normal to have such problems. There are thousands of various drugs, and patients are often unfamiliar with them, and the strange Chinese characters of the drug names make them unintelligible or even unreadable, so they are inevitably a bit resistant. Even specialists are often unfamiliar with drugs that are not commonly used in their own departments, and they feel vain in applying them. Why should I take medication? This question seems simple enough, but when you think about it it is actually very complicated. Medications are one of many treatment options that have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. The fundamental goal of a treatment plan is to cure the disease (unfortunately impossible for the vast majority of diseases), and if not to cure, to control the attacks and improve the quality of life as much as possible. A treatment plan is a failure if the impact on life is greater than the benefit (called benefit in medicine). For example, in the vast majority of premature ventricular contractions, many people have no symptoms at all, no impact on their lives, and no major harm, except for the diagnosis on the ECG report, which does not require any medication. If you take medication, you will have certain side effects, which are not worth the loss. Ventricular tachycardia is completely different: if it is diagnosed and left unattended, there is a high risk of ventricular fibrillation, cardiac arrest, and sudden death. For this disease, doctors usually recommend intensive treatment, whether it is medication or surgery, but in any case, it cannot be ignored. The risks associated with the side effects of treatment at this time are much less than the benefits, so treatment is necessary. The assessment of the pros and cons of treatment is a very complex issue, and doctors sometimes have a hard time deciding which treatment option to take. This is why some people go to many hospitals and consult many doctors, but do not get an accurate answer, often due to the difficulty of making a choice when encountering complex situations. Since this is a treatment option, there are bound to be risks. In fact, there are risks everywhere in life, and nothing is absolutely risk-free. For example, there is a risk that you will be hit by a car, a flower, a plant, or any other object that falls from the sky, and there is also a risk that you will be killed. But no one will give you a piece of paper before you go out walking, which says “10 risks of walking on the street” and then let you sign it! Although the risk of being killed by running a red light is very high, but there are people who run it. Hospitals are different. The law requires that patients be informed of any risks, so you see all sorts of “informed consent documents” for you to sign during your hospital stay, which are filled with the possible risks of various treatments, including death, of course. Many people are too scared to sign. In fact, the chances of those risks are relatively low. If these things happened to every patient, the hospital would be worse than a Nazi concentration camp, so who would let you stay in the hospital? In general, doctors will consider the serious side effects and contraindications of a drug before prescribing it. If these conditions exist, special care will be taken and patients will be informed even if they have to use them. But everyone has different levels of sensitivity, just like drinking, some people don’t get drunk on a thousand glasses, and some people fall down on one. In fact, the same applies to medications. Maybe others take a lot of them and are fine, while you may have various reactions. Here to remind readers, if you have previously applied the same or similar drugs and caused serious side effects, such as hypotension shock caused by allergies, please be sure to ask your doctor, you do not say the doctor is not aware of. In case you are accidentally prescribed a medication that you are allergic to, it can lead to unpredictable consequences. Some patients pay special attention to drug instructions, especially the side effects. This habit certainly has some merit, but my personal advice is not to look only at the side effects, but also at its therapeutic effects, which is more important? If the side effects outweigh the therapeutic effects, then don’t use the drug. If the therapeutic effect is greater than the side effect, you still have to continue with the medication. If you feel in doubt, consult your doctor again and do not stop the medication on your own. If you read enough literature, you may find that your own initial understanding is different from the current view of the medical community.